US Wealth Gap Reaches Highest Level in 100 Years

Wealth concentration in the United States has reached extremes not witnessed in 100 years.

The richest 0.00001% of Americans now own 12% of national income, triple the Gilded Age peak, reports Moneywise.

Economist Gabriel Zucman highlights that in 1910 the figure stood at just 4%, but today it has soared dramatically.

“The focus is on the really narrow, very, very top of the distribution, the top 0.0001% that’s really a tiny number of individuals. That’s about 19 households today. It was four households in 1913. But this is where a lot of the action is taking place today.”

According to Zucman, the rate of income disparity has surged in the last 50 years to favor the top 1%. The economist adds that if the 19 wealthiest individuals decided to spend all of their fortunes, they could purchase about 10% of the value of all the goods and services produced in the US in a given year.

The United States now boasts 979 billionaires with combined assets of $5.7 trillion, the highest in the world. Forbes data shows that 15 of the 20 wealthiest people on the planet live in the US.

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