Oh additionally it should be noted that real dollars tend to not actually be "real" and consistent because real dollars use the Consumer Price Index.

Which just about everyone will tell you overstates inflation... afterall when you convert rich people of the pasts money into real dollars then tend to make more then Warren Buffet could ever make.

The GINI Index for America has continually increased for the past few decades. That means the richa are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/incineq/p60204/fig2.gif

Its true that the poor in 2008 are better off than the poor in 1958, but that is no better an observation than saying the poor in 2008 are better off than the poor in 1058. Such things are relative, and people who would be happy in 1958 would be unhappy in 2008 with the same way of life.

The United States didn't exist in 1058, so you're going to have to use a different time period. I'm sure there are poor people who are just as worse off now as their ancestors were in 1058, but not in the U.S. (for obvious reasons).

One of the core problems with the GINI index is that it measures disparity without any deeper analysis ... What this means is that the GINI index would see an economy that is shrinking at 5% per year where the top 10% is shrinking at 10% per year as being a better outcome than an economy that is growing at 5% per year where the top 10% is growing by 10% per year. If you allow this situation to continue for a couple decades the poor people in the "Unfair" economy will be better off than everyone in the "Fair" economy.

There are a couple of factors which have lead to the increasing disparity between the wealthy in the United States and the poor in the United States even though the standard of living in the United States has dramatically improved for almost everyone. Globalization has meant that companies have grown so large, and so regionally disproportionately (management in western countries, labour in China/India) that the jobs that would have represented the top 0.01% of earners in the economy of the United States 100 years ago now represent 1% of the earners in the economy today. On top of that a very luck entrepreneur today can make a small amount of money ($1) from several billion people at low costs and just make an unbelievable amount of money; and we see this happen every year as the next "Youtube" or "Facebook" is produced by a handful of people.

In contrast the productivity, responsibility and profitability of the labourers in the bottom 50% of the economy has really not changed dramatically over the past 25 to 50 years.

That is fine. To each his own. However, if you have time to look at another viewpoint, I would suggest that you preview/read Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man. It takes a libertarian/free market look at the Great Depression. Amazon has it here if your interested: http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Man-History-Great-Depression/dp/0060936428/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252866910&sr=8-1

Eh, since 1700 or so, the Afghans have beaten every major power that nosed into their business: the Safavid Persians, the British, and the Soviets, and each of those was willing to go to much greater lengths to get what they wanted (i.e., not bound by the same ethical concerns as us)

Wow, I find it hard to believe your a libertarian.

We can chat about what that really means sometime if you like.

Depends on your definition of "poor getting poorer". 

To me, if the stuff you can buy gets better, your not poorer. If someone today who is "poor" can buy more food, more clothing, better medial supplies, and better housing, they are not poorer.

If that's true, then the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting richer slower. 

Believe it or not mafoo, even I would consider myself a libertarian, albeit very mild. I think most of us are on this site, it's just that you're 'extremely' libertarian, so it's easier for you to view very mild libertarians as authorotarian.

Hope that didn't offend you, sorry

Calling me "Extremely libertarian" will never offend me :).