INEQUALITYINEQUALITY

Principles of Microeconomics

SPRING 2005

Sources: 1947-79: Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data in Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America 1994-95, p. 37. 1979-2001: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables, Table F-3: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/f03.htmlThresholds: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables, Table F-1: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/f01.html

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables, Table F-3: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/f03.htmlThresholds: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables, Table F-1: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/f01.html

Sources: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970;National Bureau of Economic Research; U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNote: Real wage is the nominal wage divided by the consumer price index.

Source: Business Week, annual surveys of executive compensation. Each year, Business Week surveys executive pay at 360 to 365 of what it terms "the largest U.S. corporations," covering 36 industries. The list of companies in the survey changes from year to year. Other sources of CEO pay data are the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine.

CEO Pay +315% Worker Pay +48% Inflation +41%

Sources: CEO Pay: Business Week annual executive pay surveys. Average Worker Pay: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Weekly Hours of Production Workers (Series EEU00500005) and Average Hourly Earnings of Production Workers (Series ID: EEU00500006). Inflation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Value of Minimum Wage, 1954-2004[in 2001 dollars]

current $ real $2003

1960 $1.00 $5.26

1968 1.60 7.18

1980 3.10 6.551981 3.35 6.471982 3.35 6.111983 3.35 5.871984 3.35 5.641985 3.35 5.461986 3.35 5.361987 3.35 5.191988 3.35 5.001989 3.35 4.80

1990 3.80 5.191991 4.25 5.601992 4.25 5.461993 4.25 5.331994 4.25 5.221995 4.25 5.091996 4.75 5.541997 5.15 5.891998 5.15 5.801999 5.15 5.68

2000 5.15 5.502001 5.15 4.352002 5.15 5.272003 5.15 5.15

Minimum Wage, 1960-2003

Source: The State of Working America 2004-05, figure 2W.

Source: Arthur B. Kennickell, "A Rolling Tide: Changes in the Distribution of Wealth in the U.S., 1989-2001," Table 10. (Levy Economics Institute: November, 2003)

Source: Edward Wolff, Top Heavy (New Press: 1996), New Series Households data, pp. 78-79 (for years 1922-89) and "Recent Trends in Wealth Ownership, 1983-1998," Levy Institute Working Paper No. 300, Table 2. (Levy Economics Institute: April, 2000)

Forbes 10 Richest AmericansForbes 10 Richest Americans[net worth-September 2004][net worth-September 2004]

1-Bill Gates$48 billion

2-Warren Buffett$41 billion

3-Paul Allen$20 billion

4-Alice Walton$18 billion

4-Helen Walton$18 billion

4-S. Robson Walton$18 billion

4-John Walton$18 billion

4-Jim Walton$18 billion

9- Michael Dell$14.2 billion

10- Lawrence Ellison$13.7 billion

Source: Economic Policy Institute, The State of Working America, 2002-03 (2003), Table 7.10.

Source: Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravaillon, “How Have the World’s Poorest Fared Since the Early 1980s?” (World Bank)

Source: A. Maddison, The World Economy: Historical Statistics (2003)