Some inter­est­ing data points via Har­vard pro­fes­sor Greg Mankiw’s blog via an abstract uti­liz­ing data through 2005.  I actu­ally skimmed the source mate­r­ial and it’s an inter­est­ing read, will have to return to it this week­end when time allows.  For fun (or as a sign of our times) Mankiw showed the source of income for the top 0.1%.  I’m a bit sus­pi­cious on the very low (6%) of those not work­ing at all, as at some point you amass so much wealth just liv­ing off div­i­dends should be enough to sus­tain a good lifestyle.  I also did not see socialite listed as an occu­pa­tion so appar­ently Paris Hilton was not part of the study.  I was sur­prised at how low media/entertainment/sports came in on the list….

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Some high­lights from Table 3 about the top 0.1 percent:

• 18 per­cent are finan­cial professionals.
• 42 per­cent are exec­u­tives, man­agers, or super­vi­sors in non­fi­nan­cial busi­nesses. More than half of those are in closely-held (pre­sum­ably often small) businesses.
• 7 per­cent are lawyers.
• 6 per­cent are in medicine.
• 3 per­cent are in arts, media, or sports.
• Less than 1 per­cent are pro­fes­sors or scientists. 

Here is the source mate­r­ial if you are a data wonk like I am.

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