Has All Income Growth Gone To The One Percent?

Has All Income Growth Gone To The One Percent? by Scott Winship, Foundation For Economic Education

Whose Income Recovered after the Recession?

Some on the political left have used analyses by French economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez to argue that the "top 1 percent" have captured all of America's post-Great Recession economic gains.

This claim has no basis in fact. Focusing only on the recovery leaves out vital context, too: higher-income households see the largest losses during recessions and largest gains during recoveries. Painting an accurate picture requires a time frame that includes both.

Saez releases new inequality estimates every year, along with a summary of inequality trends and levels. The claim that all gains have gone to the top...