If you follow the economic news, you know that income distribution is a hot topic now. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article that I blogged about here and here. The article contains the obligatory rat race comment:
Last year, the number of millionaire U.S. households jumped for a third straight year to a record 8.9 million, according to the market-research firm TNS Financial Services.
But these days having a net worth of $1 million or so places you in a universe light years from, say, Warren Buffett's.
And this is a bad thing? So what if Warren Buffet's net worth is rising faster than, say, Buffy Warren's? The reference to the rat race covers the "a rising tide lifts all boats" interpretation of this. Sure, inequality is rising, but the poor of today live a heckuva lot better than the poor of, say, 1970 because of what they can spend their money on and what they have to spend to get it (thanks to Wal Mart and others who provide people, rich and poor, with more value at the margin).
Thankfully, it seems that according to the article, many don't see the rich as bad people:
Still, a Gallup Poll suggests the very rich remain more admired than despised: A majority of Americans agree that "people who make lots of money deserve it" and "almost anyone can get rich if they put their mind to it."
And that's a good thing.