Meanwhile the number of billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, went from a handful in 1981 to 26 in 1986 and 49 in 1987. This 'phenomenal rise' in the wealth of the rich occurred at the expense of those who work, it would seem. See Figure 4. Yet when Reagan and his successor, Bush, were finally removed from office in 1992 on foot of Clinton's 'put people first campaign', the super-accumulation of wealth merely continued. Inequality had never been higher as we can see in Figure 5.
Face value is a deceptive thing, of course.
The major part of the fall in the share of the top 1 per cent is balanced by an increase in the shares of the other groups in the top half of the distribution. We do not want complete equality of incomes, since responsibility and exceptional talent requires and deserves a differential award'. 107 Those who remained outside the corridors of power saw a different and depressingly familiar picture. An assessment that is backed up by Padgett and Paterson in their authoritative study, A History of Social Democracy in Post-war Europe. So much so that Britain became 'the most unequal country in the Western World' by 1996.