Economic Gap

Card #01 "The share of total income earned by the top 1 percent of families was less that 10 percent in the late 1970's but now exceeds 20 percent as of the end of 2012." Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #02 "The stock of all the assets people own, including their homes, pension saving, and bank accounts, minus all debts." (Wealth) Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #03 The flow of inequality from the past 100 years formed a U shape. Height around the 1920's during the great depression. Inequality dropped and started to rise again in the 1970's. Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #04 "Wealth now for the top 0.1 percent as the 1920s, like robber barons from the Great Gatsby." Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #05 "Nearly rich" families wealth dropped 10% Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #06 Bottom 90% Owns 23% of the wealth Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #07 Top 1% save 35%, bottom 90% save zero. Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #08 "Ten or twenty years from now, all the gains in wealth democratization achieved during the New Deal and the post-war decades could be lost" Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #09 "Wealth could become the defining line between the haves and the have-nots in the 21st century" (Thomas Piketty) Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #10 "We need policies that reduce the concentration of wealth, prevent the transformation of self-made wealth into inherited fortunes, and encourage savings among the middle class" Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #11 "First, current preferential tax rates on capital income compared to wage income are hard to defend in light of the rise of wealth inequality and the very high savings rate of the wealthy" Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #12 "Second, estate taxation is the most direct tool to prevent self-made fortunes from becoming inherited wealth—the least justifiable form of inequality in the American meritocratic ideal" Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #13 "One final reform also needs to be on the policy making agenda: the collection of better data on wealth in the United States." Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman. "Exploding Wealth Inequality in the United States." http://equitablegrowth.org. N.p., 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/>.

Card #14 Minnesota governor Mark Dayton raised income tax from 7.85 to 9.85% Gibson, Carl. "This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. N.p., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/ mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html>.

Card #15 Minnesota minimum wage is 9.50 an hour by 2018 and equal pay for women. Gibson, Carl. "This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. N.p., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/ mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html>.

Card #16 The Minnesota median icome is $8,000 more than average Gibson, Carl. "This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. N.p., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/ mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html>.

Card #17 "The reason Gov. Dayton was able to radically transform Minnesota's economy into one of the best in the nation is simple arithmetic. Raising taxes on those who can afford to pay more will turn a deficit into a surplus. Raising the minimum wage will increase the median income. And in a state where education is a budget priority and economic growth is one of the highest in the nation, it only makes sense that more businesses would stay." Gibson, Carl. "This Billionaire Governor Taxed the Rich and Increased the Minimum Wage -- Now, His State's Economy Is One of the Best in the Country." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. N.p., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/ mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html>.

Card #18 "White families are still more than twice as likely as Hispanic and black families to have wealth—assets minus liabilities—above the median U.S. level, according to a report by economists" Shah, Neil. "Racial Wealth Gaps: What a Difference 25 Years Doesn't Make." http://blogs.wsj.com/. N.p., 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/02/26/ racial-wealth-gaps-what-a-difference-25-years-doesnt-make/>.

Card #19 "Back in 1989, the median wealth of a white family was $130,102. In 2013, it was $134,008, after adjusting for inflation. For an Asian family, the two figures were $64,165 and $91,440. For a Hispanic family, they were $9,229 and $13,900. For a black family, they were $7,736 and $11,184." Shah, Neil. "Racial Wealth Gaps: What a Difference 25 Years Doesn't Make." http://blogs.wsj.com/. N.p., 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/02/26/ racial-wealth-gaps-what-a-difference-25-years-doesnt-make/>.

Card #20 "The researchers found that the median wealth levels of Hispanic and black families are about 90% lower than the median wealth levels for whites. Median family-income levels for the two historically disadvantaged groups are 40% lower, the St. Louis Fed said." Shah, Neil. "Racial Wealth Gaps: What a Difference 25 Years Doesn't Make." http://blogs.wsj.com/. N.p., 26 Feb. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/02/26/ racial-wealth-gaps-what-a-difference-25-years-doesnt-make/>.

Card #21 "The data on widening inequality are remarkably and disturbingly clear. The Congressional Budget Office has found that between 1979 and 2007, the onset of the Great Recession, the gap in income—after federal taxes and transfer payments—more than tripled between the top 1 percent of the population and everyone else. The after-tax, after-transfer income of the top 1 percent increased by 275 percent, while it increased less than 40 percent for the middle three quintiles of the population and only 18 percent for the bottom quintile." Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #22 "In the United States, consumer spending accounts for approximately 70 percent of economic activity. If consumers don't have adequate purchasing power, businesses have no incentive to expand or hire additional workers. Because the rich spend a smaller proportion of their incomes than the middle class and the poor, it stands to reason that as a larger and larger share of the nation's total income goes to the top, consumer demand is dampened. If the middle class is forced to borrow in order to maintain its standard of living, that dampening may come suddenly—when debt bubbles burst." "We cannot have a growing economy without a growing and buoyant middle class. We cannot have a growing middle class if almost all of the economic gains go to the top 1 percent." (Threatens Economy) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #23 "Widening inequality also challenges the nation's core ideal of equal opportunity, because it hampers upward mobility." (Threatens Equal Opportunity) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #24 "The threat to our democracy also comes from the polarization that accompanies high levels of inequality. Partisanship—measured by some political scientists as the distance between median Republican and Democratic roll-call votes on key economic issues—almost directly tracks with the level of inequality." (Threatens Democracy) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #25 "Between the end of World War II and the early 1970s, the median wage grew in tandem with productivity. Both roughly doubled in those years, adjusted for inflation" Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #26 "In part, this was due to the twin forces of globalization and labor-replacing technologies that began to hit the American workforce like strong winds—accelerating into massive storms in the 1980s and '90s, and hurricanes since then." Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #27 "We made it harder for many Americans to join unions. (The decline in unionization directly correlates with the decline of the portion of income going to the middle class.) And we reduced taxes on the wealthy." Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #28 "Other advanced economies have faced the same gale-force winds but have not suffered the same inequalities as we have because they have helped their workforces adapt to the new economic realities—leaving the United States the most unequal of all advanced nations by far." Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #29 "A first step toward making work pay is to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, pegging it to inflation; abolish the tipped minimum wage; and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. No American who works full time should be in poverty." Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #30 "We need to reinvigorate unions, beginning with low-wage service occupations that are sheltered from global competition and from labor-replacing technologies. Lower-wage Americans deserve more bargaining power." (Unionize low-wage workers) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #31 "This investment should extend from early childhood through world-class primary and secondary schools, affordable public higher education, good technical education and lifelong learning." (Education) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #32 "Many working Americans—especially those on the lower rungs of the income ladder—are hobbled by an obsolete infrastructure that generates long commutes to work, excessively high home and rental prices, inadequate Internet access, insufficient power and water sources, and unnecessary environmental degradation. Every American should have access to an infrastructure suitable to the richest nation in the world." (Invest in infrastructure) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #33 "At a time in American history when the after-tax incomes of the wealthy continue to soar, while median household incomes are falling, and when we must invest far more in education and infrastructure, it seems appropriate to raise the top marginal tax rate and close tax loopholes that disproportionately favor the wealthy." (Pay for these investments with higher taxes on the wealthy) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #34 "One way to make the payroll tax more progressive would be to exempt the first $15,000 of wages and make up the difference by removing the cap on the portion of income subject to Social Security payroll taxes." (Make the payroll tax progressive) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #35 "The most direct way to reduce the dominance of inherited wealth is to raise the estate tax by triggering it at $1 million of wealth per person rather than its current $5.34 million (and thereafter peg those levels to inflation). We should also eliminate the "stepped-up basis" rule that lets heirs avoid capital gains taxes on the appreciation of assets that occurred before the death of their benefactors." (Raise the estate tax and eliminate the "stepped-up basis" for determining capital gains at death) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #36 "The Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial- and investment-banking functions, should be resurrected in full, and the size of the nation's biggest banks should be capped." (Constrain Wall Street) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #37 "Ownership should be broadened through a plan that would give every newborn American an "opportunity share" worth, say, $5,000 in a diversified index of stocks and bonds—which, compounded over time, would be worth considerably more." (Give all Americans a share in future economic gains) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #38 "We must limit the political influence of the great accumulations of wealth that are threatening our democracy and drowning out the voices of average Americans." (Get big money out of politics) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #39 "Time and again, when the situation demands it, America has saved capitalism from its own excesses. We put ideology aside and do what's necessary. No other nation is as fundamentally pragmatic. We will reverse the trend toward widening inequality eventually. We have no choice. But we must organize and mobilize in order that it be done." (Starting a movement) Reich, Robert. "What America Can Do to Stop Income Inequality." http://www.csmonitor.com/. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2014/0513/ What-America-can-do-to-stop-income-inequality>.

Card #40 "They are not rioting, or even organizing to demand that the government solve the problems of inequality. And, in fact, poll numbers suggest Americans believe the government spends too much on the poor or is otherwise too involved in the economy" Matthews, Chris. "The Myth of the 1% and the 99%." http://fortune.com/. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/>.

Card #41 "At the same time, it's much more rare for a person to reach the top 1% and stay there. According to PSID data, only 0.6% of the population will experience 10 consecutive years in the top 1% of earners." http://fortune.com/. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/>.

Card #42 "The fluidity cuts both ways. Rank and Hirschl pointed out in their 2014 book Chasing the American Dream that some 45% of Americans will take advantage of a need-based welfare program, like Medicaid or food stamps, by age 60. And 54% of Americans will experience at least one year of poverty by the same age." http://fortune.com/. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/>.

Card #43 "But in the American economy, a given individual will experience a wide array of economic circumstances throughout their lives. This is why, for instance, aspirational advertising campaigns are so effective: because millions of Americans really do climb the economic ladder over the course of their lives." http://fortune.com/. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/>.

Card #44 "But when you take a closer look at the data, you see that class in America is much more complicated than a simple story of the 1% against the 99%. Why aren't Americans taking to the streets, ready to fight the next class war? It's because many of us wouldn't know which side we're on." http://fortune.com/. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://fortune.com/2015/03/02/economic-inequality-myth-1-percent-wealth/>.

Card #45 "In general, countries that have experienced higher economic growth since 2008 are more optimistic for the next generation than publics that have had less growth. For example, in China, which has experienced an average GDP growth of 9% between 2008 and 2013, 85% of the public says young people will be better off financially than their parents. Meanwhile, Italians, who have seen their economy contract by an average of 2% per year over the course of the global recession, are much less optimistic." Pew Research Center. "Emerging and Developing Economies Much More Optimistic than Rich Countries about the Future." http://www.pewglobal.org/. N.p., 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/09/ emerging-and-developing-economies-much-more-optimistic-than-rich-countries-about-the-future/>.

Card #46 "In eight of the nine developing countries surveyed, having a good education tops the list of keys to success. About seven-in-ten or more in Nicaragua (78% rate as 10), El Salvador (72%), Senegal (72%) and Ghana (69%) say education is very important to advancing in life. Only in Uganda is luck seen as roughly equal to education in determining one's future (67% luck vs. 64% education)." Pew Research Center. "Emerging and Developing Economies Much More Optimistic than Rich Countries about the Future." http://www.pewglobal.org/. N.p., 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/09/ emerging-and-developing-economies-much-more-optimistic-than-rich-countries-about-the-future/>.

Card #47 "The survey also asked what would do more to reduce inequality: low taxes on the wealthy and corporations to encourage investment and growth, or high taxes on the wealthy and corporations to fund programs that help the poor. The balance of opinion in emerging and developing nations is that low taxes are most effective while people in advanced economies tend to favor high taxes." Pew Research Center. "Emerging and Developing Economies Much More Optimistic than Rich Countries about the Future." http://www.pewglobal.org/. N.p., 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/09/ emerging-and-developing-economies-much-more-optimistic-than-rich-countries-about-the-future/>.

Card #48 Fewer than 3 million unemployed in Germany. Rattner, Steven. "The Secrets of Germany's Success." http://www.foreignaffairs.com. N.p., July 2011. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67899/steven-rattner/ the-secrets-of-germanys-success>.

Card #49 "As the German example has shown, superior products, and at least some with significant brand recognition, can buoy an entire economy." Rattner, Steven. "The Secrets of Germany's Success." http://www.foreignaffairs.com. N.p., July 2011. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67899/steven-rattner/ the-secrets-of-germanys-success>.

Card #50 "The United States may also find inspiration in Germany's growing focus on encouraging new industries, such as the alternative energy sector." Rattner, Steven. "The Secrets of Germany's Success." http://www.foreignaffairs.com. N.p., July 2011. Web. 5 Mar. 2015. <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67899/steven-rattner/ the-secrets-of-germanys-success>.