Wealth Inequality

How much has wealth (not income) inequality increased over the last two decades? The graph below, from Dennis Gilbert manual, based on Ed Wolff and his own calculations shows that significantly.

At the bottom in the late 1970s, the top 1% held around 20% of net worth, while by 2009 they had 33.8 or so. Wealth inequality shows the same U-shaped curve than income inequality, but interestingly enough the low point is more short lived (I don't have a longer series, like the one for income associated to Piketty and Saez).

Wealth Inequality in the United States

Great video, that apparently is going viral. Worth your time, even if the definitions of Socialism and middle class are sophomoric.

Note that this is not income inequality, but wealth. Ed Wolff notes that this incredibly skewed distribution has also led to "exploding debt and a consequent 'middle-class squeeze.'" For that reason he advocates for a wealth tax. Sounds like a good idea.