Used for reference and to discriminate as to what is actually occuring, rather than generalizing like a number of people do (which leads to incorrect conclusions and causes.

OVERALL TOTALS

GDP                                       $15 trillion

National debt                             15 trillion (100% of GDP)
Unfunded liabilities                     35 trillion
    Total, minimum                     50 trillion

Revenues                                  2.5 trillion (2012)
    Income taxes                       1.4 trillion (2012)
         Individuals taxes              1.16 tr
    Tax Rich legislation, 4/12        .0047 trillion ($47 billion over 10 yrs, 0.34% of the deficit!)

Spending                                   3.8 trillion  (2007 was $2.8 trillion)
Personal income (all)                13.0 trillion

Total US wealth                          57 trillion
  All millionaires combined         12 trillion
Recession wealth loss                17 trillion
Per capita GDP (PPP) of            $48,147


WHO'S PAYING THE INCOME TAXES, WHO'S GETTING THE INCOME

                                  Total US                            Individual
                      Wealth    Income   Taxes          Wealth   Income 

Top 1%              40%        24%       40%                       $960,000  (bottom $367,000)
Next 19%           50%
Top 10%             58%       44%       68%
Top 25%             87%   
Bottom 50%                     13%          3%

See Tax The Rich section.


INCOME INCREASES

1979 and 2007  the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%.
Wikipedia

Education is a key factor.  (College educated unemployment is about 4%.  High unemployment if not high school grad.).  See Income Inequality, Poverty.


CAUSES OF HIGHER INCOME AND/OR HIGHER GROWTH

Investment
Tax deductible plans
Produce higher value - Knowledge jobs, higher productivity
    Education to "upskill"


(1) The average number of people with jobs in a top income quintile household is two, while a majority of bottom income quintile households have no one employed.
(2) The lowest quintile households, however, include a lot more single-person households.
(3) 75% to 80% of the actual income for bottom quintile households is transfer payments (aka “welfare”) that are not included in IRS income data.

                                                                    Wikipedia, Wealth US 

It is absurd to purport that the reason for people being poor is because others are getting rich.  The key to not being poor is, of course, opportunity and education and industriousness/responsibility.  See the section on Income Inequality, Poverty.  (Graph of Decoupling Of Income Growth For Middle Class.

 
INCOME AND EDUCATION, RACE

2004, 2003  average :                  Wealth     Income

No high school diploma 136.5        22.7
High school diploma      196.8       36.8   % graduate from high school
Some college                       308.6       45.9
College degree             851.3       68.7
Master's                                                     78.5
Professional degree                                   100.0

White non-Hispanic      561.8        65.3
Nonwhite or Hispanic           153.1
Asian                                                         76.7
Hispanic or Latino                                       45.9
Black                                                         40.7  Low high school graduation rates.  Earnings by degree.

In 2008, the unemployment rate for African Americans 25 years and older without a high school diploma was over 14 percent.  In 2005, only 55 percent of all black students graduated from high school on time with a regular diploma, compared to 78 percent of whites.
Georgia had the lowest overall graduation rate in the nation with 54% of students graduating, followed by Nevada, Florida, and Washington, D.C.














WEALTH AND INCOME STATS
COLLECTING PLACE TO EXTRACT FROM