Job Growth and Income Inequality are directly linked

Today I wanted to share a few images because of the power they project. Here is a chart from Slate.com's article on Inequality. (It is VERY long, but also worthwhile).

As you can see, the percentage of wealth that the top 10% of Americans (in 2008, anyone earning more than $109,000/year) has been going steadily up since the 1980's. (If you look at the top 1% the increase is even sharper). From the late 1930's through the end of the 1970's the wealth distribution in this country was actually improving (i.e. more people have more of a share of the wealth). Don't listen to people who tell you that income inequality has always been getting worse and that's "just the way it is.". Show them this graphic. Income inequality is something that our government policies create. Income distribution could be something that our government policies created - the government needs to the know that the people are not standing for this anymore. Our voices will be heard!

Here's the next image. It's a chart of the job growth by decade. The two following charts came from this article.

Interesting, huh? As wealth is distributed upward jobs are lost. The more wealth that is concentrated in the hands of the few the LESS jobs are created for the general American Public. (This is evidence directly opposed the trickle down theory of economics which argues, more or less, that if the wealthy have more money they will spend that money on creating jobs for EVERYONE. This is a main argument of the current Republican party and the Tea Party). Food for thought. Although this chart only goes back to 1940, you can see that the largest increase in jobs is exactly matched by the sharp drop in income inequality in the US. When the 90% (and really the 99%) have a larger share of the income more of them are employed.

As you can see, the more unequal income is the less jobs are created. At the beginning of this new decade what do we want for our future? Do we want more jobs or less jobs? Job creation does not happen when the rich have more money. We need to create policies that reward real income equality. Then we will see the job growth that is so desperately needed to get our country back on track.

Source for the charts on job growth.

The Great Inequality in Slate

Another relevant article in the Washington Post.

Disclaimer: I have recently joined the Occupy Austin Media Team. However, I am not a spokesperson for Occupy Austin. These thoughts and musing represent only my opinion.