UPDATED: Ronald Reagan Boulevard bisects Philadelphia
UPDATED: Ronald Reagan Boulevard bisects Philadelphia
Lost in all the hub-bub today about other things was a pretty good story in this morning's Inquirer that looked at income by census tracts within the city of Philadelphia. You'll be shocked, shocked to learn that very few Philly neighborhoods stayed the same. Already affluent areas like Center City and a few gentrfying neighborhoods that are close by -- Fishtown and the area just south of South Street, for example -- saw decent increases, but most poor and working-class neighborhoods saw incomes drop.
The article used Poplar Street as a device to show the economic bifurcation of Philadelphia, but we might as well call it Ronald Reagan Boulevard:
In Italy or Greece, folks would probably be rioting in the street over growing economic disparity. But here in the United States, despite all evidence that our economic and tax policies are failing miserably, our lawmakers extend them -- highlighted by more giveaways to the top 2 percent of earners, to place in their Swiss bank accounts, far away from America's job-deprived streets.
That's exceptional, America.
The gap between the rich and poor in this country has become obscenely large since the early 1980s, or around the time that Ronald Reagan became president. But despite growing proof that trickle-down voodoo economics does not work, Reaganomics flourishes in 2010, ripping apart our social fabric. Maybe it's something that the GOP presidential hopefuls can discuss at their first debate, at the Ronald Reagan Library.
UPDATE: Robert Reich cruises down Ronald Reagan Boulevard:
Will lower taxes on the rich spur them to create more jobs? Not a chance. Since 1980, Reagan's supply-siders have said lower taxes on the rich will trickle down to everyone else. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Look at history.
During the almost three decade spanning 1951 to 1980, when the top rate was between 70 and 92 percent, the average annual growth in the American economy was 3.7 percent.
Between 1983 and the start of the Great Recession, when the top rate ranged between 35 percent and 39 percent, average growth was 3 percent.
It's amazing the extent that Reagan remains in the news -- and just wait until his 100th birthday in less than two months. If only someone had written a good book on the topic!
===]]] The vast majority of economists agree the income gap between rich and poor started soaring in the 70's, years before Reaganomics. [[[===
Too funny. I love it when people just flat out make stuff up.
--snip--
In 190, the last pre-Reagan year, families in the bottom 90 percent averaged $20,446 in income, after adjusting for inflation, $72 more than the $30,374 comparable families earned in 2006. The top 0.01 percent in 1980 took home an average of %5.4 million, less than one fifth the $29.6 million average income of the super-rich in 2006.
--snip--
There also a nice pretty picture for you - with nice pretty colors. Check out how closely the income gap tracks with the top marginal tax rate.
You boyz are hilarious.
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/extremeinequalitychart.jpg— Talking point sleuth
Rudy, thanks for proving my point about Hitler. Or are you suggesting that disparity of wealth had nothing to do with the scapegoating of the Jews? Regarding your prior post, I'd gladly let the wealthiest keep their income if we stopped spending trillions to protect their booty and the markets they need to get it. Spending is indeed the problem. The rich can surely afford their own armies, arsenals, law enforcement, courts of law, economic infrastructures, etc.- "Reducing income inequality reduces social strife." Guess you ahven't been paying attnetion to the riots and demonstrations in Greece, Italy, UK, etc as it becomes clear that those governments can no longer afford democratic socialism.— RG
- Sorry - that got clipped. Obviously, it should say:
...in 1980, the last pre-Reagan year......— Talking point sleuth - ===]]] Guess you ahven't been paying attnetion to the riots and demonstrations [[[==
RG does make a good point. The "parasite" class are actually much happier when they know their place. Poor people are much more docile and malleable when the fortunate in their society control more and more wealth. How could anyone think that income inequality might increase social strife?
Always hilarious, RG.— Talking point sleuth - "we stopped spending trillions to protect their booty and the markets they need to get it." We spend trillions on courts? The trillions spent on overseas wars protect wealth in the US? Seriously, mSL are you even trying anymore? There is no proof to back up these inane arguments.— RG
- er... another typo in the excerpt there. It should read...:
In 1980, the last pre-Reagan year, families in the bottom 90 percent averaged $30,446 in income, after adjusting for inflation, ...— Talking point sleuth - "How could anyone think that income inequality might increase social strife?" so you're saying if we don't pay off th poor, they'll riot? There goes that workign class hero stuff. Looks more like appeasement of the hordes to me. Sorry, but I don't want to pay people to not rob and steal.
— RG - Will, and others, argument is riddled with flaws. Will, you pointed out in your own book that Reagan raised taxes mutliple times. So how is he to blame for wealth disparity? Bush I and Clinton both raised taxes, so for 12 years straight there were more progressive tax rates, and that did nothing to stop wealth disparity. Its such a shame that you truly believe the government can wave a wand and make people equal.— RG
- Dawg, you hit it exactly right. The disparity was caused by higher income residents leaving the city. Unfortunately, most of those moving into the first-ring suburbs brought their democrat tendencies with them. With the surge of democrat victories in Montgomery, Chester, and Bucks counties over that period, these people don't realize that what they are doing is trying to turn these communities into the very think they fled.— Mirror
- ===]]] Sorry, but I don't want to pay people to not rob and steal. [[[===
Good point. RG. Besides, they're all a bunch of parasites anyway. Especially the tens of millions of working poor.
Oh, and don't forget poor children. No one, and I mean no one, is more of a "parasite" than a child born into poverty.
Stay classy, RG.— Talking point sleuth - "The persistence of gross income disparity is the only reason extremists like Mao or Hitler could ever ascend to power in the first place" There's little wealth disparity in Cuba. How'd that work out?— RG
- What people like Will and TPS fail to understand is that in America, class is dynamic. People move up and down all the time. Only in America can someone born in poverty make it to that top 2%. It is liberal democrat policies that seek to keep people permanently in a lower class.— Mirror
- We can look at the Gini coefficient to see how truly poor Will's argument is. From 1980-1990 it went from 40.3 to 42.8, a 2.5 point increase. From 1990-2000, it went from 42.8-46.2, a 3.4 jump. From 2000-2009, it went from 46.2 to 46.8, a 0.6 increase. The largest increase came under more "progressive" tax rates. But somehow this is Reagan's fault.— RG
- "No one, and I mean no one, is more of a "parasite" than a child born into poverty." Poor children are clearly the fault of the wealthy. If it weren't for the rich, no kid would be born into poverty. No one should dare question the parents for having a child they can't afford.
— RG
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