{"id":4727,"date":"2013-09-24T07:27:09","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T12:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=4727"},"modified":"2013-09-19T08:41:25","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T13:41:25","slug":"september-29-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"September 29, 2013–The Widening Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Erik Ulstead, West Des Moines, IA<\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n

What is the biggest house you\u2019ve ever seen?\u00a0 Describe it.<\/p>\n

The Widening Gap<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"shutterstock_139268702edit\"<\/a>The wealthiest 1% of Americans have 36% of the money.<\/p>\n

This, and many other startling facts have come from a recent study<\/a> conducted at the University of California, Berkeley.\u00a0 The top 1% is defined as families with incomes above $394,000 in 2012.\u00a0 The study also shows the income gap between the top 1% and the remaining 99% is as wide as it\u2019s been in nearly 100 years.<\/p>\n

Between 1993 and 2012, the incomes of the 1% grew 86.1%, while the 99% grew 6.6%.\u00a0 More recently, as the country\u2019s economy has begun to recover from The Great Recession, the divide has become more significant.\u00a0 From 2009-2012 the incomes of the top 1% grew more than 31%, while the incomes of the 99% grew 0.4%.<\/p>\n

The Berkeley study attributes the trend not just to technology and job outsourcing, but to the reduced power of progressive tax policies and unions, along with “changing social norms regarding pay inequality.”\u00a0 Another study<\/a> published by the University of California, Santa Cruz indicates that the bottom 80% earn 11% of the money.\u00a0 As the American economy continues to improve some economists believe the wealthiest people will continue to benefit the most.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n