In Capital, Vol 1, Marx states that the general law of wealth accumulation under the capitalist mode of production is the accumulation of wealth at one pole and poverty at the other. A recent book called "Top Heavy" gives the following figures "Forty-seven percent of the total real income gain betwenn 1983 and 1998 accrued to the top 1 percent of income recipients, 42 percent went to the next 19 percent and 12 percent accrued to the bottom 80 percent." That is 1/5 of the U.S. population accumulated 9/10 of the wealth. Marx also states in the first sentence that the basic unit of wealth in the capitalist mode of production is the commodity. Obviously, 1/5 of the population didn't accumulate 9/10 of the commodities produced between 1983 and 1998. What they accumulated were titles to purchase commodities that were produced (primarily Department II). Those titles accumulated in stocks, bonds, banks, and other financial instruments.
Is this an empiricial confirmation of Marx's general law, remembering that general laws always work in a relative manner?
My question is what is the actual mass of money that was accumulated by these two fractions of the population? How many billions of dollars did the top 1/5 accumulate versus the other 4/5? Also it should be broken down by the source of income: profit (interest, dividends, salaries, fees for professional services, etc.), rent, and wage-labor. It would probably show that the 9/10 of income came from profit and rent, and the 1/10 from wages.
Thanks, Randy
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