The Wall Street Journal found that demand is soaring for the services of “completion centers,” companies that outfit the interiors of private jets. Things have become so tight, the super-rich are standing in long lines to hire a company to turn their $250M planes into “flying palaces.”
In the real world, the Economic Policy Institute and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a survey, showing the gap between richest and poorest families has risen sharply over the past two decades. Average incomes fell 2.5 percent for families in the bottom fifth of the income scale. Those in the top fifth bracket saw incomes rise nine percent. New York State had the biggest gap between the rich and poor.Elizabeth McNichol, co-author of the study, believes the “rising income inequality raises basic issues of fairness, and harms the nation’s economy and political system.” The growing gap generates “more cynicism about political institutions.”
While a substantial portion of America is worried about stretching out the value of food stamps and having enough money to pay the rent, others fret that companies like MAV Aircraft Services are booked solid through 2011. “The overall economy at the upper sphere is doing very well,” Jerry Gore of Gore Design Completions told the WSJ.
McNichol would second that point.
President Obama, McCain or Clinton is going to have to address the widening gap between the "haves" and "have-nots."