To put things into perspective:
There is no doubt that money is one of the driving forces of the world. Looking at the comic I was struck by the contrast between the sums of money used in our world today. (N.B. This graph depicts money in the US.)
Here are some interesting points:
– the Worker/CEO pay comparison is astounding. It shows that the average hourly wage of a production worker in 1965 is relatively the same as in 2007. Meanwhile the CEO pay in 2007 has grown over 1000% compared with 1975. (dollars)
– the price of an average new car is relatively the same as the UK 2005 capita income which is comparable to the typical annual housing cost for NYC. ( thousands)
– the amount raised by presidential candidates for elections have been increasing the past 3 elections. This makes me question whether presidency will always be held by the best fundraiser and how he/she may wind up being a puppet for those who have funded the campaign. ( millions)
– US household income shows why there is currently an Occupy movement. The bottom 50% shares 1/5 of the country’s income; while the 1% pay substantially more in taxes each year. ( billions)