Look ‘em up

In the United States today, the wealthiest one per cent of the population owns more than the bottom 95 per cent.

Between 1979 and 2005, the top five percent of American families saw their real incomes increase 81 percent. Over the same period, the lowest-income fifth saw their real incomes decline 1 percent.

All of the income gains in 2005 went to the top 10 percent of households, while the bottom 90 percent of households saw income declines.

Top executives in the U.S. now make about twice the pay of their counterparts in France, Germany and the U.K., and about four times that of Japanese and Korean corporate chieftains.

Between 1979 and 2004, American workers raised their productivity 64 percent, while their median hourly compensation rose only 12 percent.

In 2006, households in the bottom 20 percent received $23 due to the Bush tax cuts. Households in the middle 20 percent received $448. Families in the top 1 percent received $39,020. And households in the top 0.1 percent received $200,523.

All statistics taken from inequality.org and epi.org