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"Meanwhile, the Walton family of Walmart has a net worth of $144 billion. This is what a rigged economy looks like," wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Photo: Jason Hargrove/Flickr/cc)
As President Donald Trump and the Republican Party unveiled their "cruel joke" of a tax plan that would provide an enormous boon for the rich disguised as a "middle class miracle," an analysis by the People's Policy Project (3P) published Wednesday found that the top 10 percent of the income distribution now owns a "stunning" 77 percent of America's wealth while those in the bottom ten percent are "net debtors," owning -0.5 percent of the nation's wealth.
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy."
--Digital LeftIn response to the analysis, conducted by 3P president Matt Bruenig, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Twitter: "Meanwhile, the Walton family of Walmart has a net worth of $144 billion. This is what a rigged economy looks like."
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy," added the progressive group Digital Left.
3P's examination of newly released Federal Reserve data also found that "[t]he bottom 38 percent of American families have an average net worth of $0." By contrast, the top one percent--set to benefit massively from Trump's tax agenda--owns 38.5 percent of the nation's wealth. In 1989, that number was 29.9 percent.

The new Fed data also highlighted America's enormous racial wealth gap.
A recent study conducted by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Corporation For Economic Development (CFED) found that "[i]f average black family wealth continues to grow at the same pace it has over the past three decades, it would take black families 228 years to amass the same amount of wealth white families have today."
"For the average Latino family," the study found, "it would take 84 years."
Bruenig notes that in 2016, mean white wealth exceeded $900,000 for the first time. Mean black wealth, by contrast, registered at just under $140,000.
Overall, Bruenig concluded, "[t]he median family in every racial group remains worse off than they were in 2007."

Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
As President Donald Trump and the Republican Party unveiled their "cruel joke" of a tax plan that would provide an enormous boon for the rich disguised as a "middle class miracle," an analysis by the People's Policy Project (3P) published Wednesday found that the top 10 percent of the income distribution now owns a "stunning" 77 percent of America's wealth while those in the bottom ten percent are "net debtors," owning -0.5 percent of the nation's wealth.
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy."
--Digital LeftIn response to the analysis, conducted by 3P president Matt Bruenig, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Twitter: "Meanwhile, the Walton family of Walmart has a net worth of $144 billion. This is what a rigged economy looks like."
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy," added the progressive group Digital Left.
3P's examination of newly released Federal Reserve data also found that "[t]he bottom 38 percent of American families have an average net worth of $0." By contrast, the top one percent--set to benefit massively from Trump's tax agenda--owns 38.5 percent of the nation's wealth. In 1989, that number was 29.9 percent.

The new Fed data also highlighted America's enormous racial wealth gap.
A recent study conducted by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Corporation For Economic Development (CFED) found that "[i]f average black family wealth continues to grow at the same pace it has over the past three decades, it would take black families 228 years to amass the same amount of wealth white families have today."
"For the average Latino family," the study found, "it would take 84 years."
Bruenig notes that in 2016, mean white wealth exceeded $900,000 for the first time. Mean black wealth, by contrast, registered at just under $140,000.
Overall, Bruenig concluded, "[t]he median family in every racial group remains worse off than they were in 2007."

As President Donald Trump and the Republican Party unveiled their "cruel joke" of a tax plan that would provide an enormous boon for the rich disguised as a "middle class miracle," an analysis by the People's Policy Project (3P) published Wednesday found that the top 10 percent of the income distribution now owns a "stunning" 77 percent of America's wealth while those in the bottom ten percent are "net debtors," owning -0.5 percent of the nation's wealth.
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy."
--Digital LeftIn response to the analysis, conducted by 3P president Matt Bruenig, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Twitter: "Meanwhile, the Walton family of Walmart has a net worth of $144 billion. This is what a rigged economy looks like."
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy," added the progressive group Digital Left.
3P's examination of newly released Federal Reserve data also found that "[t]he bottom 38 percent of American families have an average net worth of $0." By contrast, the top one percent--set to benefit massively from Trump's tax agenda--owns 38.5 percent of the nation's wealth. In 1989, that number was 29.9 percent.

The new Fed data also highlighted America's enormous racial wealth gap.
A recent study conducted by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Corporation For Economic Development (CFED) found that "[i]f average black family wealth continues to grow at the same pace it has over the past three decades, it would take black families 228 years to amass the same amount of wealth white families have today."
"For the average Latino family," the study found, "it would take 84 years."
Bruenig notes that in 2016, mean white wealth exceeded $900,000 for the first time. Mean black wealth, by contrast, registered at just under $140,000.
Overall, Bruenig concluded, "[t]he median family in every racial group remains worse off than they were in 2007."
