The People’s Game Show $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 The Rich & The Poor Taxes Race to the Bottom Low Wage Nation $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000

$200 - Race to the Bottom $200 - Race to the Bottom How many people in the U.S. had no health care coverage in 2015? a) 27 million b) 8 million c) 46 million d) 100 million

$200 - Race to the Bottom Answer (a)27 million. Although 20 million have obtained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), 27 million still remain uninsured.

$400 - Race to the Bottom $400 - Race to the Bottom In 1973, the typical CEO of the top publicly traded companies made on average, 22 times what the typical worker made. What do you believe that number is today? a) 110 b) 150 c) 275 d) 95

$400 - Race to the Bottom Answer The average CEO pay today is 275 times greater than the average worker with an annual salary of $15.5 million dollars. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2016/10/11/143072/the-future-of-worker-voice-and-power/

$600 - Race to the Bottom $600 - Race to the Bottom How many people in the United States lived below the official poverty level in 2014? 55 million 47 million 12 million 23 million

$600 - Race to the Bottom Answer (b) 47 million people 14.8 percent of the nation’s population lived below the official poverty level in 2014. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/working-poor/2014/pdf/home.pdf

$800 - Race to the Bottom $800 - Race to the Bottom In July 2016, the unemployment rate for African Americans was ____%, and for Latinos was _____%? 12.1%, 8.5% 8.4%, 5.4% 9.3%, 6.7% 7.9%, 8.2%

$800 - Race to the Bottom Answer African Americans: 8.4% Latinos: 5.4% Whites: 4.3% https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/07090906/RWRW-RaceAndEthnicity.pdf

$1,000 - Race to the Bottom $1,000 - Race to the Bottom In 2014, the median net worth for White families was $71,300. What was the median net worth for non-White or Hispanic* families? a) $11,458 b) $43,300 c) $88,650 d) $102,300 *”Hispanic” and “non-White” are the terms used by the U.S. Census Bureau.

$1,000 - Race to the Bottom Answer http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/1-demographic-trends-and-economic-well-being/

$200 – Taxes $200 – Taxes Historically, what’s the highest marginal tax rate on the top 1% in the United States? a) 10% b) 35% c) 70% d) 92% (The top marginal income tax rate is paid on just the amount of income above the cutoff for the top bracket; it’s not the average or effective rate for one’s entire income.)

$200 – Taxes - Answer (d) 92% In 1950, President Truman increased the top marginal income tax rate from 82.1% to 92.0%. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Revenue Act of 1964, reducing the top marginal income tax rate from 91% to 77%. In 2001, President Bush lowered the top marginal income rate to 39.6%.

$400 – Taxes $400 - Taxes Which country has the highest tax rate for the top income earners? a) Portugal b) Belgium c) Finland

$400 – Taxes - Answer (a) Portugal Portugal’s top tax rate is 61.3%; Belgium’s is 58.4%, and Finland’s is 57.5%. http://www.investopedia.com/incometax/which-countries-have-highest-taxes-high-incomes-0

$600 – Taxes $600 - Taxes In 2001, the Bush Administration and Congress enacted the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. In 2010, as a result of this law, the average tax cut for the bottom 20% will be less than $350. What will the average be for the top 1%? a) Tax cut of $67,320 b) Tax cut of $92,000 c) Tax cut of $101,000

(b) Tax cut of $92,000 Citizens for Tax Justice. $600 – Taxes - Answer (b) Tax cut of $92,000 Citizens for Tax Justice.

$800 – Taxes $800 - Taxes In 2002, the richest 1% of American families paid an average of 7.9% of their income in state and local taxes. The middle 20% paid 9.8%. What percent of their income did the poorest 20% pay in state and local taxes? 0% 6.3% c) 11.4% d) 18.1%

$800 – Taxes - Answer (c) 11.4% Sales and excise taxes and property taxes fall disproportionately on lower-income people because out of necessity they use a higher proportion of their income on local purchases and on housing. (Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, Citizens for Tax Justice, 2002.)

$1,000 – Taxes $1,000 - Taxes In 2001, the Estate Exemption amount was $650,000 per person. In 2016, the exemption amount per person was __________?   a)  1.2 million dollars b) 3.5 million dollars 5.4 million dollars 500,000

$1,000 – Taxes - Answer c) 5.4 Million Dollars Today, 99.8 percent of estates owe no estate tax at all, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.  Only the estates of the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans — roughly 2 out of every 1,000 people who die — owe any estate tax.  This is because of the tax’s high exemption amount, which has jumped from $650,000 per person in 2001 to $5.45 million per person in 2016. http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax

$200 – The Rich & The Poor $200 – The Rich & The Poor From 1978 to 2014, CEO Compensation increased 997%. What was the annual compensation increase for the typical worker during the same period? a) 20.7 percent b) 50.1 percent c) 10.9 percent d) 5.7 percent

$200 – The Rich & The Poor Answer (c) 10.9 percent From 1978 to 2014, inflation-adjusted CEO compensation and increased it 997 %, a rise almost double stock market growth and substantially greater than the painfully slow 10.9 percent growth in a typical worker’s annual compensation over the same period. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio, 20-to-1 in 1965, peaked at 376-to-1 in 2000 and was 303-to-1 in 2014, far higher than in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. http://www.epi.org/publication/top-ceos-make-300-times-more-than-workers-pay-growth-surpasses-market-gains-and-the-rest-of-the-0-1-percent/

$400 – The Rich & The Poor $400 – The Rich & The Poor The successful candidates for U.S. Senate in 2016 spent an average of how much money on his or her Senate campaign? a) $5.1 million b) $3.8 million c) $7.3 million d) $10.4 million

$400 – The Rich & The Poor Answer (d) $10.4million The average dollars spent on a Senate race in 2004 was 3.8 million dollars. After the Citizens United decision, that figure has ballooned to an average of 10.4 million dollars. http://metrocosm.com/the-history-of-campaign-spending/

$600 – The Rich & The Poor $600 – The Rich & The Poor As of 2015, the richest 1% owned more wealth than _____ percent of all Americans. a) 50% b) 30% c) 90% d) 75%

$600 – The Rich & The Poor Answer The gap between the top 10% and the middle class is over 1,000%; that increases another 1,000% for the top 1%. The average employee "needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour. http://o.canada.com/news/obamas-state-of-the-union-speech-will-be-call-to-arms-on-wealth-gap

$800 – The Rich & The Poor $800 – The Rich & The Poor In 1980, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of U.S. corporations were paid an average of 42 times the wage of the average worker. In 2014 compensation for CEOs was how many times higher than the average factory worker? 354 times higher 281 times higher 180 times higher 79 times higher

$800 – The Rich & The Poor Answer (a) 354 times higher Economic Policy Institute Report, 2014.

$1,000 – The Rich & The Poor $1,000 – The Rich & The Poor More Americans have been investing in the stock market. What percentage of all stocks are owned by the bottom 90% of Americans? 70 % 49 % 10 % 4 %

$1,000 – The Rich & The Poor Answer (c) 10 % Arthur B. Kennickel, “Ponds and Streams: Wealth and Income in the US, 1989-2007,” based on the Survey of Consumer Finances.

$200 – Low Wage Nation $200 – Low Wage Nation What percentage of jobs created since the recent economic recovery are considered low-wage jobs? a) 21% b) 48% c) 58%

$200 - Low Wage Nation Answer c) 58% Laura, Clawson, Daily Kos 4/2/13

$400 – Low Wage Nation $400 – Low Wage Nation What is the most common sector for low-wage work? Retail Sales Food Prep Janitorial Services Hospitality

$400 - Low Wage Nation Answer Retail Sales: 4.3 million retails sales workers making on average $25,310/yr. Laura Clawson

$600 - Low Wage Nation $600 - Low Wage Nation The current Federal minimum wage is: $5.25/hr $7.25/hr $8.25/hr $10.00/hr

$600 - Low Wage Nation Answer b) $7.25: The minimum wage was last increased in 2009.

$800 - Low Wage Nation $800 - Low Wage Nation How many minimum wage workers are there in the U.S.? 8 million 18 million 26 million 40 million

$800 - Low Wage Nation Answer b) 18 million: A full-time worker at minimum wage earns $15,080/yr.

$1,000 - Low Wage Nation $1,000 - Low Wage Nation Who proposed ending child labor laws by recommending schools fire their adult janitors and employ poor children at lower rates? Newt Gingrich Mitt Romney Rick Santorum Donald Trump

$1,000 - Low Wage Nation Answer a) Newt Gingrich