INCOME INEQUALITY GREW IN ECONOMIC EXPANSIONS

“To a liberal audience, the culprits [income inequality] are the GOP congressmen and governors who refuse to fund social safety net programs, raise state and federal minimum wages, and give tax breaks to the wealthy. But a quick look at history shows that the stratification of wealth grew enormously under former President Bill Clinton. During the economic expansion of 1993-2000, real income growth among the top one percent of earners almost doubled; for the lower 99 percent on the economic totem pole, real income grew by 20 percent, according to an analysis prepared by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at UC Berkeley. That meant that 45 percent of the economic growth during that period was captured by the small, one-percent sliver of Americans. The reason no one seemed to notice -- or at least, care – was that virtually all economic boats were lifted by the rising tide, with average income in real terms growing by nearly a third for the population as a whole. During the 2002-07 economic expansion during the George W. Bush years, the super-wealthy did even better, percentage-wise, capturing 65 percent of the income growth.”

Susan Milligan, “The New Economic Issue, With the Economy Improving, Candidates Across the Political Spectrum Are Focusing on Income Inequality,” U.S. News & World Report, May 1, 2015