Richest 1% Has More Than The 90% At The Bottom, In USA

[marcus]

From https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/federal-reveals-troubling-reality-wealthy-090300016.html
Title : Federal reserve reveals troubling reality about wealthy Americans
By Hillary Remy , April 2026

...
- Top 1% share of U.S. household wealth: 31.7% in Q3 2025, a record high

- Top 1% total assets: approximately $55 trillion

- Bottom 90% combined wealth: approximately $54 trillion

- Top 10% share of corporate equity and mutual funds: more than 87%

- Top 10% share of consumer spending Q2 2025: nearly 50%

- Wage growth December 2025: 3% for high earners vs 1.1% for low earners ...

The Federal Reserve's own research has found that higher income inequality is associated with more household debt relative to GDP, particularly through mortgage debt...

What this level of concentration means for the economy:

... Growth becomes dependent on a narrow group of asset owners rather than broad-based consumer activity.

That creates a fragile foundation. If wealthy households pull back spending, whether from a market correction, a loss of confidence, or a shift in sentiment, the ripple effects can move through the economy quickly. There is no cushion from the broad middle to absorb the shock...

 

[centurion]

Top 1% of households also pay more than 40% of all federal taxes and more than 20% share of all taxes collected.

 

[marcus]

From https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/242756/gap-between-rich-poor-increased-more/
Title : Gap between rich and poor has increased more quickly in the US than in Europe
By Laura Singleton , January 2023

... Researchers from Imperial and the Paris School of Economics are calling for action to be taken by governments and policy makers in the US, to boost wages at the lower end of the market, control unemployment, and stabilise house prices...

The researchers say US policymakers should prioritise job market policies that are aimed at boosting wages at the lower end of the distribution to reduce wealth inequality. They also call on central banks to play a key role in stabilising house prices.

Dr Martínez-Toledano explained: “Less equal societies have less stable economies. High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised.” ...

 

[Hawk256]

From https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/242756/gap-between-rich-poor-increased-more/
Title : Gap between rich and poor has increased more quickly in the US than in Europe
By Laura Singleton , January 2023

... Researchers from Imperial and the Paris School of Economics are calling for action to be taken by governments and policy makers in the US, to boost wages at the lower end of the market, control unemployment, and stabilise house prices...

The researchers say US policymakers should prioritise job market policies that are aimed at boosting wages at the lower end of the distribution to reduce wealth inequality. They also call on central banks to play a key role in stabilising house prices.

Dr Martínez-Toledano explained: “Less equal societies have less stable economies. High levels of economic inequality can lead to economic and political instability. This is why action needs to be taken before societies become polarised.” ...

Raise wages and prices go up more than the wage increase or they just do away with the job all together and now that person has zero spending power. Look at California and the food service industry. Not sure there is an easy answer.

 

[marcus]

Raise wages and prices go up more than the wage increase or they just do away with the job all together and now that person has zero spending power ...

I don't know much about , but thinking about fairness , wages for the low level's employee must be enough for a 'normal + small savings' life . Without this , I don't think we can have a stable society .

Specifically about what you said above , I think that , yes some employers may fire employees but this is why some governments have unemployment help's program(s) .
Price increase is probable , but at some point we will have a stable price's situation .

 

[snpark]

It's been said many times before. So I won't say it again. But since I do love the sound of my own keyboard

You only have to think of your parents. A generation previous.

Dad worked 9-5 in an office or factory
Mum was a housewife

Could reasonably comfortably afford a mortgage on a house and a car loan and twice a year a holiday maybe one domestic and one long haul on Pan Am or British Airways to somewhere 3-4 hours away

You drank from a hose and played outside until it got dark and ate fish fingers egg and chips and roast beef on a Sunday with a Mateus Rose wine and a Walls Vienetta for desert.

Ah the good days. Thatcher Reagan and Gorbachev. All smiles.
People laughed at your opinions and jokes. Music was amazing.

Makes me sad really.

 

[Banana72]

It's been said many times before. So I won't say it again. But since I do love the sound of my own keyboard

You only have to think of your parents. A generation previous.

Dad worked 9-5 in an office or factory
Mum was a housewife

Could reasonably comfortably afford a mortgage on a house and a car loan and twice a year a holiday maybe one domestic and one long haul on Pan Am or British Airways to somewhere 3-4 hours away

You drank from a hose and played outside until it got dark and ate fish fingers egg and chips and roast beef on a Sunday with a Mateus Rose wine and a Walls Vienetta for desert.

Ah the good days. Thatcher Reagan and Gorbachev. All smiles.
People laughed at your opinions and jokes. Music was amazing.

Makes me sad really.

I agree...Simpler times really and how people appreciate the simplest things. My childhood: Even a quick trip to Ancol seemed special. Bogor was cool temp-wise, needed jackets during the day even. Going out for 'bakmi' with friends after school (Bakmi gang kelinci for Rp 1,750.00 (yep...) WITH bakso and iced tea. Room was hot but we enjoyed our lunch. Sad times to see the world today and people. Even more depressing to see Indonesia's news.

 

[Hawk256]

but this is why some governments have unemployment help's program(s) .

And where does the government get this money to give the unemployed? The employed and most of it will come from the middle class. Again just moving the problem from one place to another.

 

[pantaiema]

Allowing the wealthy individual to accumulate wealth rather than force them to distribute their wealth randomly is a classical debate between Capitalism vs Socialism. The capitalism vs. socialism debate has been going on forever, and there’s no shortage of academic research, journal articles, and white papers on it. In reality, most economies land somewhere in the middle.

Many Nobel Prize winners in Economic Sciences tend to support an extent of capitalism, a market-based systems but usually in the form of mixed economies, where markets, incentives, and private property exist alongside government intervention. Although, they don’t necessarily argue for pure laissez faire or completely unregulated markets, or follow everything from Adam Smith's theory in 'The Wealth of Nations'.

At the end of the day, like in any field, I personally would rather lean on the views of well-known experts than random opinions on the internet. Also these expert opinion have been proven to be working anywhere in the world. Look at how Singapore, Hong Kong transform itself to become one of the richest nation on earth. How China perform economically since the adoption of 'opening up and reform policy' which was started by Deng Xioping; compare it to before that era.