The highest-earning 1 per cent of Americans doubled their share of aggregate income (not including capital gains) from 8 per cent in 1980 to over 18 per cent in 2007. The top 0.1 per cent (about 150,000 taxpayers) quadrupled their share, from 2 per cent to 8 per cent. Including capital gains makes the increase in inequality even sharper, with the top 1 per cent getting 23 per cent of all income by 2007. During the seven-year economic expansion of the Clinton administration, the top 1 per cent captured 45 per cent of the total growth in pre-tax income; while during the four-year expansion of the Bush administration the top 1 per cent captured 73 per cent. … This is not a misprint.

Mark Blyth, Austerity, loc. 59