Was Occupy Wall Street based on a measurement error?

Piketty and Saez (2003, updated) estimated the share of income held by the top 1% from 13 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 2012. The new Bricker et al. research shows only a 7 percentage point increase to 18 percent in 2012. The share held by the super-rich, the top 0.1% has increased much at all.

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Source: Measuring income and wealth at the top using administrative and survey data via How super-rich Americans get that way is changing – AEI | Pethokoukis Blog » AEIdeas.

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Source: Measuring income and wealth at the top using administrative and survey data via  How super-rich Americans get that way is changing – AEI | Pethokoukis Blog » AEIdeas.

Bugger the top 1% – it is the retired who are going from strength to strength

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The rapid diffusion of household appliances

The program I watched the other day on the history of refrigeration and air conditioning was one of the more interesting technology history shows I have watched.

New Zealand’s renewable energy as a percentage of the total primary energy supply

Poverty reduction in Africa is even greater than previously thought

Median Income for Married Couples with Both Spouses Working

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Source: Mark Perry.

The 1st @PaulKrugman on globalisation & development @harleyhs #TPPANoWay

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Source: Paul Krugman (1997) Enemies of the WTO.

This visiting American education professor who specialises in globalisation, claimed in the linked radio interview that real wages had fallen in the USA and Mexico. Even for the bottom 20% of the USA, their after-tax household incomes increased by 40% since 1979, with most of that after the signing of NAFTA.

Everything that is bad in crony capitalist Mexico is the fault of NAFTA if our visiting academic is to be believed despite trade tripling and investment increasing 600% because of NAFTA.

Women’s earnings growth has been perfectly fine over the last 40 years despite the horrors of NAFTA and the attack on unions and workers rights by a top 1% emboldened by NAFTA and globalisation, if our visiting academic is to be believed.

Gender analysis, gender analysis, where is his gender analysis of NAFTA? Few labour market statistics make sense without being broken down by sex because of the immense economic progress of women in the last 50 years. Can NAFTA claim credit for that?

Left-wing governments are rare in Australia

There have been one left-wing government in Australia since 1949. That was the Whitlam government elected between 1972 to 1975.

The Australian Labour Party defeated a tired and smelly Liberal National party government that had held office for 23 years. There was no landslide when it was time to throw out a 23 year government.

Gough Whitlam managed to beat dopey old Billy McMahon on a small swing and win a majority of 9 seats in 1972. That was later reduced to 7 in the 1974 election.

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Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard Labour governments were all social democratic governments. They were not left-wing governments.

Creative destruction in car industry market shares

The Swedish tax mix as a percentage of GDP since 1965

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Source: OECD Stat.

Remembering @JeremyCorbyn’s good old days

Unadjusted US gender wage gap at the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles in 1980, 1989, 1998 and 2010

Much ducking and diving is required to explain why the women with most options in life have the largest gender wage gap.

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Source: The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations by Francine D. Blau, Lawrence M. Kahn :: SSRN via Panel Study of Income Dynamic (PSID).

#EarthHour 10 great public health achievements of 20th century #HAH2016

British tax mix as a percentage of GDP

The large rise in tax in personal income in the 1970s coincided with the rise of the British disease and British economy becoming widely known as the sick man of Europe. The large decline in taxation in personal income under Thatchernomics was followed by an economic boom.

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Source: OECD Stat.

Tax mix in New Zealand as percentage of GDP since 1965

That GST certainly played a major role since the 1980s. Taxes on corporate profits are on the up and up despite what you would believe from the grumblings of the Left down under.

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Source: OECD Stat.

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