"It would take the median middle-class family 82,411 years to earn an amount equal to the wealth of the average person on the rich list. That’s the very definition of financial obscenity."

5 Obscene Reasons Why Richest Americans grow Richer As Middle-Class Declines

By Les Leopold

If you want to see what’s wrong with America take a good look at the nauseating list of the 400 richest Americans – the Forbes 400 [3]. While the economy struggled to create jobs, it was another banner year for the super-rich. They increased their collective wealth by a whopping $200 billion, which is more than enough to provide every student in the country with free higher education.

Meanwhile, the median middle-class family – the one smack in the middle of the income distribution -- saw its net worth (assets minus liabilities) drop from $102,844 in 2005 to $66,740 in 2010 according to the U.S. Census Bureau [4]. So while the richest 400 Americans increased their wealth by 54 percent since 2005, the median middle-class family saw its wealth decline by 35 percent. Welcome to the new American math.

It’s not easy to wrap our arms around so much financial fat. The numbers involved are truly mind-boggling. Here’s more new math:

The richest 400 Americans have as much combined wealth as 25.5 million middle-income Americans. 400 = 25.5 million!

The average wealthy member of the Forbes 400 is 63,000 times as rich as the average middle-class family. One = 63,000!

It would take the median middle-class family 82,411 years to earn an amount equal to the wealth of the average person on the rich list. That’s the very definition of financial obscenity.

What do the richest of the rich do?

The rich list gives us insight into how wealth is accumulated today. Are the super-rich “wealth creators” who bring new goods, services and jobs to our economy? Or are they “wealth extractors” who cleverly skim it from the rest of us? Here’s the breakdown of the main industries represented by the 400 richest Americans...

Read more here:
http://www.alternet.org/print/economy/5-obscene-reasons-why-richest-americans-grow-richer-middle-class-declines