At Some Point Wealth Needs To Disperse

TW: There are many explanations/rationalizations for why wealth and income is pooling not only at the top but more so at the very top with tiny slivers of society. Technology, the decline of unions and globalization are the usual suspects. But when the top 1% of households are approaching 40% of total wealth and the top 0.1% are making 80X compared to the bottom 90% and getting more pronounced annually, then things are probably out of whack.

One of the great thing about Americans is they are tremendously aspirational. Stats show most Americans believe they will someday be wealthy. Even if the same studies reveal the odds for the vast majority of folks are long indeed and highly correlated to the income levels from which they start and ethnicity etc.

From Economist:

"...Perhaps Americans put up with this system because they have unrealistic expectations of their chances of success. One study found that 2% of Americans described themselves as currently rich but 31% thought that they would become rich at some stage. In fact only 2-3% of those in the bottom half of the income distribution have a chance of becoming very well off (defined as having an annual income of more than $340,000). Just over half of those earning $75,000 a year think they will become very well off, but experience suggests that only 12-17% will make it..."

TW: What is the solution? That is not clear. Wealth is accumulated for many reasons- hard work, intelligence, luck, fraud. But that wealth begets more wealth through personal networks, education, bias etc. is clear.