> When the math cleared from their analyses, the economists estimated that 14 percent of the increase in the share of income going to the top 1 percent of Ameri

> When the math cleared from their analyses, the economists estimated that 14 percent of the increase in the share of income going to the top 1 percent of Americans between 1975 and 2012 "may be explained by an increase in innovation." Normally I don't bother to comment when news writers leave out links to their sources, but the study in question[0] provides an estimate of 17%, not 14%. > If you take that as a proxy for the Silicon Valley effect, though, you're left with a problem: 86 percent of the recent inequality increase can't be explained by innovation. This conclusion is a good example of excessive journalistic license, as it is unfounded and almost certainly false. First of all, the 86% or 83% or whatever remainder is not mentioned in the study at all. Second, the 17% represents the percent of income gap widening their model predicts based on one measure of innovation, as is plainly stated. For anyone interested in a much better summary, the study includes some tables (I think the 14%/17% result is on page 44). [0]http://scholar.harvard.edu/aghion/publications/innovation-and-top-income-inequality http://scholar.harvard.edu/aghion/publications/innovation-an...