Real Redistribution

Nov 16th, 2010

If there has been one truly spurious charge leveled against President Obama, it is the repeated assertion that his policies are a threat to middle class net worth through socialist redistribution. The fact that Reaganomics essentially entrenched a system that has redistributed wealth upward without pause for thirty years was lost on the electorate. Also lost is that this version of a "free market," so slavishly supported by many Americans, is their real enemy. Matt Taibbi has noted an interesting figure in his book, Griftopia.

"The top 1 percent has seen its share of the nation’s overall wealth jump from 34.6 percent before the crisis, in 2007, to over 37.1 percent in 2009.   Moreover, the standard of living for the  average American has plummeted during the crisis -- the median American household net worth was $102,500 in 2007, and went down to $65,400 in 2009"