John Merline Writes in Investor’s Business Daily Income Inequality Rose Most Under President Clinton, 11/3/11

Excerpts:

Meanwhile, during Clinton’s eight years, the wealthiest 5% of American households saw their incomes jump 45% vs. 26% under Reagan. The Gini index shot up 6.7% under Clinton, more than any other president since 1980.

Economic growth. Strong economic growth, rising stock prices and household income inequality tend to go hand in hand.

Technology. Tech advances have put a premium on skilled labor, according to a Congressional Budget Office report . Because the pool of skilled workers hasn’t grown as much as demand, their wages have climbed faster.

University of Michigan economist Mark Perry notes, while the income gap has grown since 1979, almost the entire increase occurred before the mid-1990s: “There is absolutely no statistical support for the commonly held view that income inequality has been rising recently.”

A survey by the Economic Mobility Project found 71% said it’s more important for the country to focus on improving upward mobility. Just 21% prioritized reducing inequality.

HKO Comments-

Please read the entire article. How ironic that inequality grew under Clinton and Obama more than under Bush or Reagan. Inequality appears to be a side effect of economic growth. But the middle class and poor do better with a bigger pie than with efforts to get a bigger piece of a smaller pie. Margaret Thatcher noted this decades ago:

Some would rather make the poor poorer than to make the rich richer.

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