LONDON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The most important economic and political issues in the United States are the extraordinary levels of income and wealth inequality, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.
Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator and the chairman of the Senate budget committee, raised grave concerns in an opinion article published by the newspaper about the rapidly growing concentration of ownership, the long-term decline of the American middle class and the United States' evolution into oligarchy.
"We now have more income and wealth inequality than at any time in the last hundred years. In the year 2022, three multibillionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of American society -- 160 million Americans. Today, 45 percent of all new income goes to the top 1 percent, and CEOs of large corporations make a record-breaking 350 times what their workers earn," said the article.
Meanwhile, as the very rich become much richer, working families continue to struggle, it said.
"Today, half of our people live paycheck to paycheck and millions struggle on starvation wages. Despite a lifetime of work, half of older Americans have no savings and no idea how they will ever be able to retire with dignity, while 55 percent of seniors are trying to survive on an income of less than 25,000 dollars a year," it added. ■
