Why the rich get richer

Recently on the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers spoke with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich about the power of Washington lobbyists and his vision for reforms to make America more prosperous and equitable.
Reich lamented that the middle class has not shared the benefits of our nation’s economic expansion over the past few decades:

“The fact of the matter is that, as late as 1980, the top 1 percent by income in the United States had about nine percent of total national income. But since then, you’ve had increasing concentration of income and wealth to the point that by 2007 the top 1 percent was taking home 21 percent of total national income. Now, when they’re taking home that much, the middle class doesn’t have enough purchasing power to keep the economy growing. That was hidden by the fact that they were borrowing so much on their homes, they kept on consuming because of their borrowing. But once that housing bubble exploded, it exposed the fact that the middle class in this country has really not participated in the growth of the economy, and over the long term we’re not gonna have a recovery until the middle class has the purchasing power it needs to buy again.”

How I agree! That's one good thing I recall about the 50's. We may not have had a lot but we could afford about anything we needed without "charging" it. There were no credit cards and that was a good thing. People had to save for the things they wanted.

Our purchasing power is gone. I wanted to get Bob the shot for shingles I had in the early 80's for $25. and now it is $175. Go figure! The medicine he uses for his keratosis was $28 the last tube I bought twenty years ago. It's now $190.