According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve, the wealth gap between the wealthy and the rest of us greatly widened since 2008’s economic crisis, Reuters reported.
The survey found that even “though incomes of the highest-earners rose, none of the groups analyzed by the Fed had regained their 2007 income levels by 2013.” This includes those of the 99 percent who suffered massive unemployment, cut hours, and lowered income because of the recession that occurred by the hands of big, Wall Street bankers.
The income for your average American family increased approximately 4 percent after accounting for inflation from 2010 to 2013, Reuters reported, and the income growth was concentrated among the top 3 percent of earners at 30.5 percent. The wealth accumulation among the top 3 percent growth as well.
Last year, the top 3 percent accounted for 54.4 percent of the country’s total net worth compared to 51.8 percent in 2007 and 44 percent in 1989.
In the words of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), “the game is rigged.” With how much the poor have been suffering and how the wealthy has prospered in the years following the 2008 crisis, how could it not be?
