"Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse, for some." -Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

Since 2020, the richest 1% have secured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world combined,
which has contributed to both extreme wealth and extreme poverty increasing simultaneously for the first time in 25 years.
This concentration of wealth suggests that while the rich accumulated more wealth, it did not translate into benefits for poorer populations.
(Wealth inequality has a negative, statistically significant effect on economic growth.)

"There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." -Warren Buffett

Among the G7 countries, the U.S. exhibits the highest level of income inequality.
The wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016.

In the U.S. Middle-class incomes have grown at a slower rate than upper-tier incomes over the past five decades.
Nearly 1/3 of Americans, approximately 31%, have a net worth of $0 or less.
Approximately 10% of U.S. households have a negative net worth, meaning their debts exceeded their assets.

"There's no question that we've had a trend toward growing inequality and that this trend can shape and determine the ability of different groups
to participate equally in a democracy and have grave effects on social stability over time." -Janet Yellen

minneapolisfed.org - The myth of the rising tide

oxfamamerica.org - Top ways billionaires are bad for the economy

aspeninstitute.org - Thirteen million US households have negative net worth will they ever move from debt to wealth

docs.iza.org: PDF document