Noel Sheppard
NewsBusters
10/31/2011
While the media champion the Occupy Wall Street movement as if it’s the American version of the Arab Spring, they’re predictably missing a crucial distinction.
As the Motley Fool reported Friday, those sleeping in tents and skipping showers in cities around the country are actually part of the world’s richest one percent:
In America, the top 1% earn more than $380,000 per year. We are, however, among the richest nations on Earth. How much do you need to earn to be among the top 1% of the world?
$34,000.
That was the finding World Bank economist Branko Milanovic presented in his 2010 book The Haves and the Have-Nots. Going down the distribution ladder may be just as surprising. To be in the top half of the globe, you need to earn just $1,225 a year. For the top 20%, it’s $5,000 per year. Enter the top 10% with $12,000 a year. To be included in the top 0.1% requires an annual income of $70,000.
NewsBusters readers might recognize Milanovic’s name as well as his book given a report we did on this issue two weeks ago which presented a chart of income inequality in numerous countries…
The article continues, with graphics, at NewsBusters.
