Your US ruling class....

[Mike Ballard <swillsqueal@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Published on Friday, December 27, 2002 by
CommonDreams.org
The Super Rich Are Out of Sight
by Michael Parenti

The super rich, the less than 1 percent of the
population who own the lion's share of the nation's
wealth, go uncounted in most income distribution
reports. Even those who purport to study the question
regularly overlook the very wealthiest among us. For
instance, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
relying on the latest U.S. Census Bureau data,
released a report in December 1997 showing that in the
last two decades "incomes of the richest fifth
increased by 30 percent or nearly $27,000 after
adjusting for inflation." The average income of the
top 20 percent was $117,500, or almost 13 times larger
than the $9,250 average income of the poorest 20
percent.

But where are the super rich? An average of $117,500
is an upper-middle income, not at all representative
of a rich cohort, let alone a super rich one. All such
reports about income distribution are based on U.S.
Census Bureau surveys that regularly leave Big Money
out of the picture. A few phone calls to the Census
Bureau in Washington D.C. revealed that for years the
bureau never interviewed anyone who had an income
higher than $300,000. Or if interviewed, they were
never recorded as above the "reportable upper limit"
of $300,000, the top figure allowed by the bureau's
computer program. In 1994, the bureau lifted the upper
limit to $1 million. This still excludes the very
richest who own the lion's share of the wealth, the
hundreds of billionaires and thousands of
multimillionaires who make many times more than $1
million a year. The super rich simply have been
computerized out of the picture.

When asked why this procedure was used, an official
said that the Census Bureau's computers could not
handle higher amounts. A most improbable excuse, since
once the bureau decided to raise the upper limit from
$300,000 to $1 million it did so without any
difficulty, and it could do so again. Another reason
the official gave was "confidentiality." Given place
coordinates, someone with a very high income might be
identified. Furthermore, he said, high-income
respondents usually understate their investment
returns by about 40 to 50 percent. Finally, the
official argued that since the super rich are so few,
they are not likely to show up in a national sample.

But by designating the (decapitated) top 20 percent of
the entire nation as the "richest" quintile, the
Census Bureau is including millions of people who make
as little as $70,000. If you make over $100,000, you
are in the top 4 percent. Now $100,000 is a tidy sum
indeed, but it's not super rich--as in Mellon, Morgan,
or Murdock. The difference between Michael Eisner,
Disney CEO who pocketed $565 million in 1996, and the
individuals who average $9,250 is not 13 to 1--the
reported spread between highest and lowest
quintiles--but over 61,000 to 1.


full: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1227-06.htm

=====
"We are going to inherit the earth, there is not the slightest doubt about 
that.  The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the 
stage of history.  We carry a new world, here, in our hearts.  That world is 
growing this minute." -
    - Buenventura Durruti

http://au.profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal

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