One possibility is that while the rich now hold a larger percentage of income, they hold a similar percentage of "income over subsistence level." In real dolla

One possibility is that while the rich now hold a larger percentage of income, they hold a similar percentage of "income over subsistence level." In real dollars, the subsistence level is much lower now than in 1919. Assuming that subsistence in any era gives roughly the same utility, dollars over subsistence can be a useful metric. I quickly dashed out 2 distributions, for then and now. I just plugged in numbers that looked sane and got the percentages to come out right. Then i plugged in 2 subsistence levels, assuming that NOW is 50% of THEN, in real dollars. The $ over subsistence % comes out roughly equal then and now. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsZT04jfENsidEpHLTM5QXNITnFyOTJIWFNTNGFzRWc&hl=en#gid=0 https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsZT04jfENsidEpHLTM...