United States | Plutocracy

Have the top 0.1% of Americans made out like bandits since 2000?

Or have they merely stood still?

IT IS A truth universally acknowledged that inequality in the rich world is high and rising. Or, at least, it used to be. A growing band of economists are challenging the received wisdom, pointing out that trends in the distribution of income and wealth may not be as bad as is often thought. Two recent studies focus on wealth inequality in America, providing further ammunition to the dissenters.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “How the 0.1% did”

A dangerous gap: The markets v the real economy

From the May 9th 2020 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Incoming "border czar" and former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan speaks during a visit to Camp Eagle, Eagle Pass, Texas, USA.

Tom Homan, unleashed

America’s new border czar spent decades waiting for a president like Donald Trump

Voters in North Carolina

An unfinished election may shape a swing state’s future

A Supreme Court race ended very close. Then the lawyers arrived.


Migrants from Mexico and Guatemala are apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing a section of border wall into the U.S.

Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown

His executive orders range from benign to belligerent


To end birthright citizenship, Donald Trump misreads the constitution

A change would also create huge practical problems

Ross Ulbricht, pardoned by Donald Trump, was a pioneer of crypto-crime

His dark website, the Silk Road, was to crime what Napster was to music

Two presidents compete over the worst abuse of the pardon power

Donald Trump and Joe Biden have both made indefensible decisions