Subject: Re: Should I change how I invest? Confused in the U


From perplexity which then referenced Pew.

https://www.pewresearch.org/so...

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) offers an alternative estimate of income inequality that accounts for federal taxes and a more comprehensive array of cash transfers and in-kind services than is possible with Current Population Survey data. The CBO finds that the Gini coefficient in the U.S. in 2016 ranged from 0.595, before accounting for any forms of taxes and transfers, to 0.423, after a full accounting of taxes and transfers. These estimates bracket the Census Bureau’s estimate of 0.481 for the Gini coefficient in 2016. By either estimate, income inequality in the U.S. is found to have increased by about 20% from 1980 to 2016 (The Gini coefficient ranges from 0 to 1, or from perfect equality to complete inequality). Findings from other researchers show the same general rise in inequality over this period regardless of accounting for in-kind transfers.

Yet another alternative is to focus on inequality in consumption, which implicitly accounts for all forms and sources of incomes, taxes and transfers. Some estimates based on consumption show that inequality in the U.S. increased by less than implied by estimates based on income, but other estimates suggest the trends based on consumption and income are similar. Empirically, consumption can be harder to measure than income.

We have been discussing income inequality. Wealth inequality has also changed. From perplexity:

Wealth Inequality
Wealth inequality has also increased. By 2021, the top 10% of Americans held nearly 70% of U.S. wealth, up from about 61% at the end of 1989.
The median wealth of upper-income families increased by 85% from 1983 to 2001, outpacing the gains of lower- and middle-income families. For example, the median wealth of middle-income families increased by 42%, and that of lower-income families by 67%, during the same period.

Aussi