Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Income Inequality


Poll: The Rich Just Know the Right People 1/12/2012



NYT ( 1-14-2012) Among the Wealthiest 1 Percent, Many Variations By Shaila Dewan and Robert Gebeloff

Some of my favorite points from this article are:

1. The national cutoff for a household to be in the top 1% of incomes is $380,000.
This cutoff varies greatly across cities. To be in the top 1% in New York City, a household must earn  at least $790,000. To be in the top 1% in Clarksville, TN, a household need only earn $200,000.

Needless to say the cost of living is much higher in New York City. Using CNN's cost of living adjustment tool for 2010 (see link below), $790,000 in Manhattan would buy the same amount of stuff as $339,510 in Clarksville, TN. This shows that the top 1% in Manhattan really are richer than the top 1% in Clarksville, even after controlling for the higher cost of living.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html

2. A majority of the 1% housholds report no inherited money.  However, as shown in the video, most do start out with significant advantages - including educated parents.

3. Education really does matter. In 27% of the 1% households, both spouses hold advanced degrees.


What 3 things did you find to be the most interesting or surprising in the article and video?



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