theatlantic | Take one look at this graph, and you'll think you recognize the story: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the 1 percent blasts into the stratosphere while the 99 percent languishes in stagnation, moving on...
Simple, right? Except this graph doesn't tell that story, at all. Because you see that languishing green line at the bottom? That's the 1 percent.
Now let's add labels (the income data lives here if
you wanna play at home) and voila, you can see this isn't a picture of
the rich and the rest. It's the 40-year history of the rich, the truly
rich, and the truly filthy stinking rich—the 1 percent, the 0.1 percent,
and the 0.01 percent.
