Warren Buffet
Do the American rich realize how far the poor are slipping?
The Great Recession has affected some more than others. Mainly, the poor have gotten poorer. Meanwhile, the rich, who've been far less affected, still perceive America as a land of equality.
In a recent PBS NewsHour investigation, Paul Solman polled several upper and upper-middle class individuals in New York City to identify a pie graph of inequality in the United States. Either from unrealistic optimism or simple ignorance, most of those polled choose a pie graph reflecting the levels of inequality in Sweden. However, the United States has much higher levels of disparity than Sweden. According to PBS, the United States falls into the category of extreme inequality "where the richest fifth owns 84 percent of the nation's wealth, while the bottom two-fifths, 40 percent of the population, owns an almost invisible 0.3 percent of the nation's property."
In jobs speech this month, President Obama declared that billionaire "Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary—an outrage he has asked us to fix." Buffet, an outspoken advocate for taxing the "mega-rich," was also interviewed by PBS. He contends that the rich have really no conception of how bad things are for the poor—even the middle class—in America. In a recent New York Times Op-Ed piece, Buffet concluded that the rich should bare some of the economic burden. In his own words, "it’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."
Watch the full PBS NewsHour short above.
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