SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The wealth of the 400 richest Americans doubled in the last decade. (Photo: Dean Chahim/flickr/cc)
'Ten Year Challenge' for 400 Wealthiest Americans Shows Fortunes Doubled Since 2009 While Tax Rates Dropped
"Here's the thing: the way the system is set up, we're headed for another decade of this."
Nov 25, 2019
Exemplifying a national economy rigged in favor of the already rich, the wealthiest 400 people in the U.S. enjoyed a drop in their tax rate from 2009 to 2019 even as they enjoyed a drop in their tax rate.
University of Calfornia Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman--citing the social media meme known as the "ten year challenge"--crunched the numbers Sunday in a tweet, finding that the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans jumped from $1.27 trillion to $2.96 trillion. The tax rate fell from 27% to 23% in that time.
As Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price pointed out on Twitter, the real increase of the wealth was not double due to inflation, but was nonetheless a staggering 136%.
"Here's the thing," tweeted Price. "The way the system is set up, we're headed for another decade of this."
As Business Insider explained, the jump in wealth is due to a number of factors, including taxes:
Zucman and Emmanuel Saez--another economist at the University of California he's partnered with--have argued that the relatively small tax burdens of the wealthy are the product of decisions made by American lawmakers, whether directly or through congressional gridlock. Tax avoidance has also become more common.
Congress has cut taxes on capital gains and estates over the years. And the top income tax rates were slashed six times since 1980, some with the support of Democrats, The Washington Post reported. In 2010, President Obama delayed ending the George W. Bush tax cuts by two years, and Congress allowed it to expire in 2013.
As Common Dreams contributor Norman Solomon noted on November 7, the increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the superrich is creating a situtation where it's harder and harder to ignore the consequences of such inequality.
"In the real world, class warfare--or whatever you want to call it--has always been an economic and political reality," wrote Solomon.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
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 |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Exemplifying a national economy rigged in favor of the already rich, the wealthiest 400 people in the U.S. enjoyed a drop in their tax rate from 2009 to 2019 even as they enjoyed a drop in their tax rate.
University of Calfornia Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman--citing the social media meme known as the "ten year challenge"--crunched the numbers Sunday in a tweet, finding that the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans jumped from $1.27 trillion to $2.96 trillion. The tax rate fell from 27% to 23% in that time.
As Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price pointed out on Twitter, the real increase of the wealth was not double due to inflation, but was nonetheless a staggering 136%.
"Here's the thing," tweeted Price. "The way the system is set up, we're headed for another decade of this."
As Business Insider explained, the jump in wealth is due to a number of factors, including taxes:
Zucman and Emmanuel Saez--another economist at the University of California he's partnered with--have argued that the relatively small tax burdens of the wealthy are the product of decisions made by American lawmakers, whether directly or through congressional gridlock. Tax avoidance has also become more common.
Congress has cut taxes on capital gains and estates over the years. And the top income tax rates were slashed six times since 1980, some with the support of Democrats, The Washington Post reported. In 2010, President Obama delayed ending the George W. Bush tax cuts by two years, and Congress allowed it to expire in 2013.
As Common Dreams contributor Norman Solomon noted on November 7, the increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the superrich is creating a situtation where it's harder and harder to ignore the consequences of such inequality.
"In the real world, class warfare--or whatever you want to call it--has always been an economic and political reality," wrote Solomon.
Exemplifying a national economy rigged in favor of the already rich, the wealthiest 400 people in the U.S. enjoyed a drop in their tax rate from 2009 to 2019 even as they enjoyed a drop in their tax rate.
University of Calfornia Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman--citing the social media meme known as the "ten year challenge"--crunched the numbers Sunday in a tweet, finding that the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans jumped from $1.27 trillion to $2.96 trillion. The tax rate fell from 27% to 23% in that time.
As Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price pointed out on Twitter, the real increase of the wealth was not double due to inflation, but was nonetheless a staggering 136%.
"Here's the thing," tweeted Price. "The way the system is set up, we're headed for another decade of this."
As Business Insider explained, the jump in wealth is due to a number of factors, including taxes:
Zucman and Emmanuel Saez--another economist at the University of California he's partnered with--have argued that the relatively small tax burdens of the wealthy are the product of decisions made by American lawmakers, whether directly or through congressional gridlock. Tax avoidance has also become more common.
Congress has cut taxes on capital gains and estates over the years. And the top income tax rates were slashed six times since 1980, some with the support of Democrats, The Washington Post reported. In 2010, President Obama delayed ending the George W. Bush tax cuts by two years, and Congress allowed it to expire in 2013.
As Common Dreams contributor Norman Solomon noted on November 7, the increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the superrich is creating a situtation where it's harder and harder to ignore the consequences of such inequality.
"In the real world, class warfare--or whatever you want to call it--has always been an economic and political reality," wrote Solomon.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.