"To many Americans, the economy of the past five years has been rough. Prices have soared yet pay remains stagnant. High mortgage rates have made buying a home a dismal prospect. The unemployment rate has been creeping up. Most people have indicated they're delaying major life decisions, including having kids or switching jobs, because of the instability. But for a very small group of people, the last five years couldn't have been any better."
"The wealth of the world's billionaires grew 54% in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. And even amid all the economic instability, the stock market has only continued to grow. This growth has largely benefited just a small number of Americans: 10% of the population owns 93% of stock market wealth. As uneven as this distribution seems, it's the system working as it is currently designed."
Economic conditions over recent years left most Americans facing soaring prices, stagnant wages, high mortgage rates, creeping unemployment, and delayed major life decisions. Billionaire wealth jumped dramatically, with a 54% increase in 2020, while the stock market continued to rise. Stock-market wealth is heavily concentrated: 10% of the population owns 93% of that wealth. The current system enables and preserves this concentration through opaque mechanisms and growing political and media influence by the wealthy. Wealth tiers can be conceptualized as distinct levels, from affluent towns up to billionaire enclaves, reflecting wide disparities in resources and power.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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