Pity the Poor Rich

The New York Times is citing statistical evidence gathered by the IRS that "adjusted for inflation, the income of all Americans fell 9.2 percent from 2000 to 2002."

"Because of population growth, average incomes declined ... by 5.7 percent."

But these declines -- get this -- appear to have hit the upper income brackets the hardest:

"More than 352,000 taxpayers, one of every eight who had worked their way above $200,000 of income in 2000, fell below that figure in 2002. At the very top the ranks thinned by more than half. The number of taxpayers reporting adjusted gross income of $10 million or more fell to 5,280 from 11,215. The combined income of this rich and thin slice of Americans plummeted 63 percent, to $110 billion, in 2002 from $300 billion in 2000. Among those who stayed in this category average annual income fell 22 percent, to $20.9 million from almost $26.8 million in 2000."