The Rich and The Poor

There are two datasets I keep a close eye on to see if their respective stewards ever update them.

One is the natural gas production at Bolivia's state owned government agency (as I wait, patiently crouched like a ninja ready to jump upon the inevitable data that will show production has declined under state ownership).

The second is the mean household income of each quintile of income earners put out by the US Census Bureau.

The latest data had only gone up to 2001, and I was particularly interested in this information because it would ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY resolve one of the main (if not THE MAIN) claim of the left that George Bush's tax cuts have only benefited the rich. So imagine my joy when I found out they had updated them to 2005 this past week!

Well junior and aspiring deputy economists, here's the latest income distribution figures from the US Census Bureau;



As you notice the long term trend of EVERYBODY'S income is that EVERYBODY, POOR INCLUDED is getting richer. However, the short term trend, since the economic slow down of 2001 (I still refuse to call it a recession) is that people have been getting poorer, with a recent recovering in income.

Now, leftists, socialists, communists and other mainstream members of the democratic party, will pounce on this as proof positive that GW's policies have failed since he was inagurated as president in 2001. That he is out there whooping it up for his rich oil buddies, and when he's not whooping it up, he's sending his storm troopers out to knee-cap poor people.

But there are two problems with this;

1. It seems that it's more a historical economic trend for incomes to decline (and then recover) after each recession, rather than Bush training Barney to bite and pee upon poor people. I circled in light blue what has happened to the bottom 4 quintiles of incomes after the previous three "recessions" and you'll note that the trend is consistent across all incomes.


After each recession, ALL PEOPLE'S INCOMES DECREASE...LIKE YOU WOULD EXPECT THEM TOOOO, MAYBE HUH?????

2. The left likes to focus their attacks on the "super rich" because they know they can tax such a small minority, promising the masses to transfer the wealth and thus bribe poorer folk to vote for them. Well, even the "super rich," GW's presumed "bestest of buddies" suffered. With not only the top 20% of income earners suffering a decrease in income, but also the tippy top super secret elite top 5% of income earners suffering a loss as well.


So there you have it folks. The answer to the brainwashed, massed produced, broken record mantra of the left, "GW's tax benefits have only benefited the rich," is

"No it hasn't, it seems to have had the same effect on all income levels, besides which the broader economy seems to have a larger role in determining outcomes."

Now, a signed autograph and CERTIFICATE OF JUNIOR DEPUTY ECONOMIST-NESS goes to the adventuresome aspiring economist that can tell me why incomes of the lowest quintile have not recovered as quickly as other quintiles.