But while upper-tail wealth inequality has certainly increased a lot, there’s another, subtler kind of inequality that gets far less attention. In the 1980s, the middle class diverged, with the upper middle pulling away from the lower middle. This makes it a reasonably good measure of inequality between the upper and lower middle class. Richard Reeves, in his 2017 book Dream Hoarders, suggests that the upper middle class has been hoarding the best educational, occupational and residential opportunities from the lower middle class, creating resentment among the latter group. The big question, of course, is why middle-class inequality rose back in the 1980s.

Source: Mint December 27, 2020 14:25 UTC