US income inequality is rising so fast current data methods can't keep up

[Borealis]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/21/income-inequality-is-rising-so-fast-our-data-cant-keep-up/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.edba8a234e3b

Wages at the top of the income distribution continue to rise much more rapidly than wages for everyone else, according to an analysis of the latest federal data by the Economic Policy
Institute, a progressive think tank.

But the data are just as notable for what they don’t say, according to the report by EPI economist Elise Gould. Increases in wages at the top are outpacing economists’ ability to
measure them because the federal survey tracking the wage data “top-codes” the highest earnings amounts: For confidentiality reasons, wages are fully recorded only up to a certain
threshold.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, which jointly administer the survey, haven’t changed that threshold in 20 years, even as top incomes have skyrocketed. As a
result, the survey is capturing less information on top pay than it used to. Economists are able to use a variety of statistical methods to adjust for top-coding, but that process becomes
much less reliable as more workers’ wages are masked by the code.

Nevertheless, the available data paints a clear picture of broadening disparities between top earners and everyone else. Adjusted for inflation, wages for the top 5 percent of earners
rose from $50.46 an hour in 2000 to $63.10 in 2018, an increase of 25 percent. The median worker’s hourly wage, meanwhile, rose by 7 percent over that period, to $18.80.

[MR-X]

Don't worry guys, that money will trickle down any time!

[Last or First]

I wonder if it happened to experience a sudden jump a little over a year ago.

I mean that would be crazy, right, no way that could be the case

[Sableye]

clearly the answer is tax cuts

[Hypno-Toad]

Sarcasm aside, just looking at the Facebook feed I see from my more centrist and right wing friends posting Andrew Scheer propoganda, it's amazing how fast people will jump to taxes as the root of their ills. I routinely see shit that attacks tax rates, and admonishes the welfare system. Never is it asked "Is my boss paying me a fare wage?" Or "Am I being paid in a way that represents my level of expertise?" Nah, it must be taxes and people on welfare making me poor.

It just never ceases to surprise me how so many people in the working class and lower middle class are more than willing to rip each other apart before even glancing upwards. Whether it's intentional or not, the pro-capital upper crust really are pulling the strings of so many people.

[ImCrimson]

Someone having more money than you means they're more successful; clearly they must be a better person and an exemplar

[Fish Poke]

It's the Crabs in a Bucket mentality. It sucks though that even UPPER middle class people exhibit this behavior, like my uncle.

[TheTalon]

Ever try getting dealt into a game of Monopoly 2 hours after it started?

That's the USA

[Sableye]

simple solutions always sound great for complex problems. That's how they've sold tax cuts for the last 40 years.