No Shit Sherlock

[xoxoxoBruce]

From Gawker

Study: The U.S. Is an Oligarchy.
A new study by researchers from Princeton and Northwestern Universities finds that America's government policies reflect the wishes of the rich and of powerful interest groups, rather than the wishes of the majority of citizens.

The researchers examined close to 1,800 U.S. policy changes in the years between 1981 and 2002; then, they compared those policy changes with the expressed preferences of the median American, at the 50th percentile of income; with affluent Americans, at the 90th percentile of income; and with the position of powerful interest and lobbying groups.

What they've done is quantify what we already knew, but I guess it's good to have the hard numbers.

If you'd prefer the Princeton pdf to Gawker's sideshow barkers it's here.