Are the Rich Getting Richer While the Poor are Poorer?

Whether the rich are becoming richer and the poor are getting poorer depends on the observer trying to make a point from the political Left. And what the left-slanted media wants you to know.

Take, for example, a November 13, 2007 report from the Treasury Department, entitled "Income Mobility in the United States from 1996 to 2005. These are not the only data that tell a diametrically opposite slant from the usual political and media story that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. A previous Treasury Department study showed similar patterns in individual income changes between 1979 and 1988.

These studies of same individuals show patterns different than the patterns the Left want you to see.

Similarly, a study conducted at the University of Michigan, following the same individuals over an even longer span of time, found most people moving from income bracket to income bracket over time — especially among those who began in the bottom 20%.

The University of Michigan Panel Survey on Income Dynamics showed that, among people who were in the bottom 20% income bracket in 1975, only 5% were still in that category in 1991. Nearly six times as many of them were now in the top 20% in 1991.

The Left sneers at income mobility as a myth. But the facts speak for themselves.