The Best Of Times

THE BEST OF TIMES....John McCain may think it's 1938, but in reality it's 1928:

Average pre-tax incomes in 2006 jumped by about $60,000 (5.8 percent) for the top 1 percent of households, but just $430 (1.4 percent) for the bottom 90 percent, after adjusting for inflation, according to a new update in the groundbreaking series on income inequality by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. Their analysis of newly released IRS data shows that in 2006, the shares of the nation's income flowing to the top 1 percent and top 0.1 percent of households were higher than in any year since 1928.

It is indeed a grand and glorious time to be rich in the United States. And why shouldn't it be? They've certainly done a fine job of shepherding the economy for the other 90% of us, haven't they?