VERY RICH GAINED EIGHT TIMES THOSE WITH LESS THAN $1 MILLION

“Today, ever greater resources are being invested in winning market share at the very top of the pyramid, sometimes at the cost of diminished service for the rest of the public. While middle-class incomes are stagnating, the period since the end of the Great Recession has been a boom time for the very rich and the businesses that cater to them.

“From 2010 to 2014, the number of American households with at least $1 million in financial assets jumped by nearly one-third, to just under seven million, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. For the $1 million-plus cohort, estimated wealth grew by 7.2 percent annually from 2010 to 2014, eight times the pace of gains for families with less than $1 million.”

Nelson D. Schwartz, “In and Age of Privilege, Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat: Companies Are Becoming Adept at Identifying Wealthy Customers and Marketing to Them, Creating a Money-Based Caste System.” New York Times, April 24, 2016, page A1.