The Devastating Tragedy of our Vanishing Middle Class

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You’re probably already familiar with much of the data and analysis concerning the decline of the American middle class. But let me remind you of some of the pertinent information, just in case you need a refresher.

• 40% of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover an unexpected $400 expense. (source)
• The combined wealth of the three richest Americans — Gates, Bezos and Buffett — is the same as the combined wealth of the 50% of Americans with the lowest net worth. (source)
• The richest 0.1% of the population takes in an average of 188 times as much income as the bottom 90%(source)
• America’s top 10 percent now average more than nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent. (source)
• CEOs of large companies now earn an average of 361 times as much as average U.S. workers. This has risen by an order of magnitude since 1980, when similar CEO pay was only 42 times greater than that of the average worker. (source)
• American economic mobility is now lower than that of nearly every other major country: Only about 5% of those born into bottom-quartile families manage to ever make it into the top quartile. (source)
• 17% of U.S. children reside in homes where at least one family member was unable to acquire…