Gap between ultra-rich and wage earners is growing rapidly

Despite 30 years of economic growth, the typical American family has barely seen a budget in their economic standing.

$80,000 in wealth, excluding durable consumer goods like cars and appliances. This figure is essentially unchanged from 1983, when the Federal Reserve first started tracking household assets using a uniform survey.

In other words, despite 30 years of economic growth, the typical American family has barely seen a budge in their economic standing.

Today, about one in five households lives in “underwater nation,” with either zero or negative wealth. That figure is even higher for black and Latino households, the result of decades of discrimination.

We are witnessing the rising concentration and consolidation of our nation’s wealth into fewer and fewer hands. Most concerning is the potential for these wealth hoarders to use their outsized bank accounts to buy outsized power over our government.

A surefire way to make today’s economic inequality greater is to offer a massive tax break to the very wealthy, as President Donald Trump’s “tax reform” plan would do. In fact, major tax breaks for the already wealthy are a big part of what’s created the inequality we see today.

When three people own more than half the country, and when a fifth of us have nothing, that’s the exact opposite of what we need to be doing.

Chuck Collins and Josh Hoxie are co-authors of the report “Billionaire Bonanza 2017” and co-edit Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies. They wrote this for Insidesources.com.