Income share for the bottom 50% of Americans is ‘collapsing,’ new Piketty research finds.

[McFurd]

MarketWatch - 2/7/2017 - Steve Goldstein - A new research paper from economists including Thomas Piketty finds that the bottom 50%’s share of income in the United States is “collapsing.” The paper, written by Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, studies global inequality dynamics. And while there are rising top income and wealth shares in nearly all countries, the magnitude varies substantially. In the U.S., between 1978 and 2015, the income share of the bottom 50% fell to 12% from 20%. Total real income for that group fell 1% during that time period. That’s not the case elsewhere. In China — where there also has been a marked rise in income inequality — the bottom 50% saw their income go up by 401%, not surprising given the industrialization the world’s second-largest economy has seen. Even in developed France, however, the bottom 50% saw their income grow, by 39%. Read more @ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/income ... 2017-02-07