Top 1% Received 121% of Income Gains During the Recovery, Bottom 99% Lose .4%; How, Why, Solutions

"I have spoken many times about "income skew" during the recovery. However, I was never able to precisely quantify the "skew". It's now possible, thanks to many readers who sent a link to a Huffington Post article on Income Gains During the Recovery.

The original source of the data is a study Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States by Emmanuel Saez.

From 2009 to 2011, average real income per family grew modestly by 1.7% but the gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by 11.2% while bottom 99% incomes shrunk by 0.4%. Hence, the top 1% captured 121% of the income gains in the first two years of the recovery.

From 2009 to 2010, top 1% grew fast and then stagnated from 2010 to 2011. Bottom 99% stagnated both from 2009 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2011. In 2012, top 1% income will likely surge, due to booming stock-prices, as well as re-timing of income to avoid the higher 2013 top tax rates. Bottom 99% will likely grow much more modestly than top 1% incomes from 2011 to 2012..."
 

at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/top-1-received-121-of-income-gains.html#PUQtiBOBKwZpihur.99