America's 1% Problem

Question 1

By 2007, the year before
the crisis, the top 0.1 percent of America’s households had an income
that was ______ times larger than the average of the bottom 90 percent.

Answer 1

220

Question 2

The ratio of CEO annual compensation to
that of the typical worker by 2010 was back to what it had been before
the crisis, to _____ to l

Answer 2

243

Question 3

trickle-down economics

Answer 3

giving more money to the top will benefit everyone, partly because it
would lead to more growth

Question 4

“polarization” of the labor force

Answer 4

But in recent years, America's middle class
has become eviscerated, as the “good” middle-class jobs—requiring a moderate level of skills, like autoworkers’ jobs—seemed to be disappearing relative to those at the bottom, requiring few skills, and those
at the top, requiring greater skill levels

while more of the money is going to the top, more of the people are going toward the bottom

Question 5

American ______, it seemed, still survived.

Answer 5

optimism

Question 6

The Great Recession thus represented a triple whammy for many
Americans:

Answer 6

their jobs, their retirement incomes, and their homes were all at risk

Question 7

extreme poverty

Answer 7

living on two dollars a day per person or less, the measure of poverty
used by the World Bank for developing countries