There is certainly a disconnect between what your average beltway expert (including congressmen) believe average incomes are and what the actual data says. One writer I enjoy argues that the average congressman doesn’t actually know anybody who makes less than 250,000 a year and they think those people are either average Americans or the ones that count.

Personally, I don’t get it. If I were a politician I would never let the basic income numbers depart from my regular reading, they are too important to policy making.

James Pilant

According to the 2010 Wall Street Journal, Gregory B. Maffei was the highest paid CEO at $87 million. If you take the highest paid person and the lowest paid (earning the $6.25 minimum wage) and average the two, "middle" would be roughly $43.5 million. But extremely few people earn that. Also according to 2010 statistics, the typical wage of the top 1% of earners is $380,354. In this case, "middle" should be $183,677. However, only the top 5% of … Read More

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