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It's the economy, people

| August 6, 2013 7:00 AM

According to a recent Gallup poll, of all the problems facing this country today, the number one concern is the economy. That is followed closely by the related issue of unemployment. Worries over health care, the deficit, our moral decline and poor leadership pale by comparison.

That concern is reflected in a recently released study showing that four out of five Americans will struggle at some point in their lives with joblessness, poverty or the need for welfare. That’s 80 percent! In America! Among whites, 63 percent say the economy is poor.

Yet, since its bottom on March 9, 2009, the DJIA has grown 237 percent. Clearly, the stock market is doing great, as are those holding the investments. And, therein, lies the rub. Only a select and fortunate few hold those investments. Primarily the top 1 percent.

We know there is an income gap and a wealth gap. We know that it is as bad today as it was just before the Great Depression. We also know that the period of smallest disparity was 1947-1972 when we had a healthy, growing middle class. We also know that the ratio of CEO compensation to the average private sector worker has grown from 20-1 in the mid-1960s to well over 200-1 today. That ratio began a rapid acceleration in the 1980s, the so-called Decade of Greed.

So, why is this happening? For me the answer is simple, The Golden Rule — he who has the gold makes the rules.

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint