Our Banana Republic

[lonestarnot]

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: November 6, 2010

In my reporting, I regularly travel to banana republics notorious for their inequality. In some of these plutocracies, the richest 1 percent of the population gobbles up 20 percent of the national pie.


... The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As Timothy Noah of Slate noted in an excellent series on inequality, the United States now arguably has a more unequal distribution of wealth than traditional banana republics like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.

C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/opinion/07kristof.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

[OHdem10]

1. The Canaries are just beginning to flutter: Chirp, Chirp, Countries

become most vulnerable to Dictatorial Ideological Takeover
when its people are most vulnerable economically. Chirp
Chirp Chirp

[lonestarnot]

2. Isn't is a shame we've had to go down this way.

[Dinger]

3. K & R

What's next?