U.S.: A NATION OF DEPENDENTS

The chart below shows how dependent Americans have become on government money. The chart tells a very sad story and the situation is only getting worse. What the chart doesn't show is that it is largely government policies that are creating this pattern of rising dependence. Our government confiscates 40 percent of private resources, primary out of peoples incomes. Then it gives that money to someone else. These policies dictate that dependence on government MUST NECESSARILY rise. Money that is taken from wages and given to the government obviously cannot also be received by individuals as wages. (Further description of the graph and what it shows is provided below)



Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Credit Suisse

The graph was created by Credit Suisse’s chief economist, Neal Soss. The red line shows what share of personal income comes from wages — that is, what Americans earn from working. The blue line shows what share comes from transfer payments, which are made to individuals, usually by the federal government, through social benefit programs like unemployment insurance, disability insurance and Social Security. As you can see, the share of income that Americans earn by working has been falling, from more than two-thirds of their income in the mid-1950s to just over half of their income today. Meanwhile, they have been growing more and more dependent on money from social benefits programs, growing from about 4 percent in the mid-’50s to about 18 percent in February 2011.