US and the World

Now this is really asking for trouble

US Wealth Gap Grows for Ethnic Minorities

If the terrorists don't catch up with us big time, this kind of money gap will. I knew the gap was growing, but these statistics blew me away:

By 2002, that produced a further deterioration of the economic divide, where minorities own only a fraction of the wealth enjoyed by whites. The median net worth of white households was $88,651, or 11 times greater than Hispanic families ($7,932) and 14 times greater than African-American families ($5,988.)

Forget the racial implications - they're horrible and complicate things tremendously - but there just should be that sort of gaps between the rich and the poor. If this had said $60,000 for whites and $30,000 for blacks I would find it outrageous. But $88,000 vs. $8,000? That's unbelievable. Maybe there's something wrong with the figures? This leaves me with two big questions:

1. Why the hell are we finding out about this from a Bristish newspaper? Hwere is the American press? Missing in action again. Probably have too many resources tied up covering the Peterson murder. Anyone for a Roman Circus? Let them eat cake?

2. Are these figures right?

In terms of the second question, they certainly seem to come from a creditable source. Pew Trust have an excellent reputation. The source for this is the Pew Hispanice Center and it describes itself this way: "Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center is a non-partisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the entire nation. Timeliness, relevance and scientific rigor characterize the Center’s work. The Center does not advocate for or take positions on policy issues."

And not to ignore the Housde, take a look at this site - recommended on the site above:

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2004/house/?view