An economic report shows how each American might benefit if $79 trillion were shared equally.
President Trump promised to “Make America Wealthy Again” on April 2, announcing new tariffs on foreign products to strengthen the economy, jobs, and American industries.
From the White House, the President stated American workers have “suffered greatly,” having been “cheated for over 50 years.”
However, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders claims Republicans are drafting bills to “give more tax cuts to billionaires” while reducing programs “needed by working families.”
A RAND Corporation study on inequality revealed almost $80 trillion in wealth created by 90% of American workers since 1975 went to the top 1%.
The president introduced worldwide tariffs on Wednesday.
According to researchers, this growing economic gap stems from rising inflation and lost wages, with income share for the 90th percentile declining.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest one percent saw their actual income increase.
Over 50 years, this difference amounts to $1.58 trillion yearly on average.
Considering the workforce size, the data shows approximately how much each worker would have received with fair wealth distribution.
In 1975, with 79.3 million workers, each person would have earned an additional $19,924.38 annually.
While this shows the vast difference between working and upper classes five decades ago, the situation hasn’t significantly improved recently.
Based on 108 million workers in 1985, the average worker would have made an impressive $14,629.93 more with balanced distribution.
By 1995, with a larger workforce of 129.7 million, workers would have received an extra $12,181.96. And as the workforce grew to 154.4 million in 2005, workers still missed out on $10,233.16 each.
That amount barely changed over another decade, as by 2018 with 156.3 million workers, Americans would have gained an extra $10,108.77.
Responding to the RAND report, Sanders said: “My Republican colleagues have repeatedly expressed deep concern about wealth redistribution in America, and they’re right.
“The problem is it has moved in exactly the wrong direction.”
The senator criticized income and wealth inequality in today’s US as “not only morally wrong” but “deeply harmful to our democracy.”
The study concluded that with 1975’s income distribution, most workers could have received an additional $3.9 trillion in 2023, which Sanders said equals a $32,000 yearly increase for the bottom 90%.
“Given this reality, we cannot provide another $1.1 trillion tax break to the top 1% by making deep cuts to healthcare, housing, education and food assistance as President Trump and Congressional Republicans want. We must do precisely the opposite,” Sanders continued.