Media focus on super rich not misplaced

Academics can be dismissive of the concerns of the popular media. But when it comes to the growth of the super-rich, the tabloids may have gotten it right.

The numbers tell the story. According to a study by John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics and Brian Bell of Oxford University, the share of national income earned by the top 1% in the US surged to 18.3% in 2007, from 8% in 1979. In Britain, the trend was almost identical: The top 1% received 15.4% of the national income in 2007 compared with 5.9% in 1979. And these figures exclude capital gains.

“A lot of the action has been at the very top end of the distribution, the top 1% or the top 0.1%,” Van Reenen, director of the Center for Economic Performance at the LSE, told me. “It shows you that the media’s focus on the very rich and on bankers’ bonuses wasn’t misplaced.”