New Study on Income Equality & Mobility from the Treasury Department.

Treasury studied the income of 97,500 filers between 1996- 2005. The overall finding of the study is the same as similar studies done on income mobility in the 1990s and 1980s. To quote the Wall Street Journal's analysis: “The basic finding of this analysis is that relative income mobility is approximately the same as in the last 10 years as it was in the previous decade.” The report also lets the air out of the populist political theories of "The War on the Middle Class" or "The Two Americas." I have seen John Edward's America and it looks nothing like mine.
Other key highlights:

• Nearly 58% of filers who were in the lowest income group in 1996 had moved into a higher income group by 2005.
• 25% moved into the middle or upper-middle groups. 5.3% made it into the highest quintile.
• Of those in the 2nd lowest quintile, nearly 50% moved into the middle quintile or higher and only 17% had moved down.
• Full-time workers in the lowest quintile saw their incomes increase by 90.5% in the decade studied.

During the same period the top 1% of filers experienced a loss in income of 25.8%. All other income groups experienced a gain in income ranging from a high of 90.5% to a low of 10%. The WSJ reports: The key point is that the study shows that income mobility in the U.S. works down as well as up--another sign that opportunity and merit continue to drive American success, not accidents of birth. The "rich" are not the same people over time."

"Also encouraging is the fact that the after-inflation median income of all tax filers increased by an impressive 24% over the same period. Two of every three workers had a real income gain--which contradicts the Huckabee-Edwards-Lou Dobbs spin about stagnant incomes. This is even more impressive when you consider that "median" income and wage numbers are often skewed downward because the U.S. has had a huge influx of young workers and immigrants in the last 20 years. They start their work years with low wages, dragging down the averages."