The wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016, according to a @pewresearch analysis.

6 facts about economic inequality in the U.S.: https://t.co/VBHRkrh9cw pic.twitter.com/ORIsRleML7

— Katherine Schaeffer (@katschaeffer) February 7, 2020

Some 72% of wealth accumulated between 2009 and 2019 went to the richest 10% of households. The poorest 50% of households reaped only 2% of wealth gains.https://t.co/MG7uqMIRwo

— Jonnelle Marte (@Jonnelle) February 5, 2020

Sigh. Why is it these headlines don’t specify that the story is only referencing white people? The most left behind are African Americans and 3% consider themselves Republican. These same groups of white voters supported George Wallace. https://t.co/Gc7o0NarRC

— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) January 28, 2020

Social Mobility Index, 2020:

1) 🇩🇰
2) 🇳🇴
3) 🇫🇮
4) 🇸🇪
5) 🇮🇸
6) 🇳🇱
7) 🇨🇭
8) 🇦🇹
9) 🇧🇪
10)🇱🇺
11) 🇩🇪
12) 🇫🇷
13) 🇸🇮
14) 🇨🇦
15) 🇯🇵
16) 🇦🇺
17) 🇲🇹
18) 🇮🇪
19) 🇨🇿
20) 🇸🇬

…

27) 🇺🇸

You’re now more likely to move up economically in Denmark or Sweden than in America.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 26, 2020

The 26 richest people on Earth now own as much as the 3.8 billion who form the poorer *half* of the planet’s population.

Again, 26 people own as much as 3.8 billion people.

26 v. 3,800,000,000

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 19, 2020

Your Monday morning reminder that the richest 0.1% of Americans now owns a bigger share of the pie than at any time since 1929, just before the Wall Street crash.

This can’t go on forever.

Tax the rich.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 6, 2020

Lower-income Republicans are more likely than higher-income Republicans to say there’s too much economic inequality in the country today (48% vs. 34%). https://t.co/xUsKskZUkA

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 13, 2020

Almost as soon as he got into office, Trump gave the 1% and massive corporations a massive tax cut.

If you want a president that addresses our country’s income inequality, he’s not your guy. https://t.co/j65wnVQz9l

— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) January 12, 2020

The Dow soars, wages don’t.

Inequality in a nutshell. https://t.co/hD1g1y4uBk

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 12, 2020

Chart: Income inequality in the U.S. is rising and is the highest among G-7 countries. https://t.co/Hq9CwIbEjj pic.twitter.com/xldoTpLRLv

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 11, 2020

The DOW:

2017 – 19819.78
2018 – 23,062.40
2019 – 28,583.44

– Gain of 44.2%

Median Household Income:

2017 – $62,626
2018 – $63,179
2019 – $63,688

– Gain of 1.6%

Mininum Wage:

2017: $7.25
2018: $7.25
2019: $7.25

– Gain of 0.0%

— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) January 10, 2020

The median income of U.S. households stood at $74,600 in 2018, 49% higher than its level in 1970, when the median income was $50,200. https://t.co/Hq9CwIbEjj

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 10, 2020

1) Almost half of Americans don’t own stocks
2) 10% of Americans own 86% of all stocks
3) Only 32% of the workforce has a 401(k)
4) The stock market is not the economy
5) The deficit is exploding
6) You should be in prison https://t.co/0Newg9mPkW

— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) January 9, 2020

Only U.S. families in the top 20% in terms of net worth have gained back the wealth lost during the Great Recession. https://t.co/5galjPVbj1

— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 9, 2020

Here's how much of their wealth the 10 richest Americans gave to charity in 2018:

Ellison: 0%

Page: 0%

Brin: 0%

Bezos: 0.1%

D. Koch: 0.1%

C. Koch: 0.5%

Zuckerberg: 0.7%

Bloomberg: 1.5%

Gates: 2.6%

Buffet: 3.9%

Billionaire philanthropy will not save us. Tax the rich.

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) January 3, 2020

Fraction of all US wealth owned by Boomers & Gen-Xers when the average member of each was age 35:

Boomers, 1989 21%
GenX, 2008 8%

The average Millennial turns 35 in 2023. Right now they own 3%.

There will surely be political implications.https://t.co/j1pNrt8mll

— Kurt Andersen (@KBAndersen) November 24, 2019

The money left behind for middle-class Americans is dwarfed by that inherited by the children of the very wealthy https://t.co/aHw3dngNh1

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 30, 2019

The richest 0.1 of Americans now owns a bigger share of the pie than at any time since 1929, just before the Wall St. crash.

Folks, this is unsustainable. Inequality threatens to tear apart our economy and democracy.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 27, 2019

Wealth of 400 richest Americans:

2009: $1.27T
10: $1.37T
11: $1.5T
12: $1.7T
13: $2T
14: $2.3T
15: $2.3T
16: $2.4T
17: $2.7T
18: $2.9T
19: $3T

Federal Minimum Wage:

2009: $7.25
10: $7.25
11: $7.25
12: $7.25
13: $7.25
14: $7.25
15: $7.25
16: $7.25
17: $7.25
18: $7.25
19: $7.25

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) January 2, 2020

Since 1970:

— Incomes of the top 1% of Americans: ⬆️$800,000

— Incomes of the top 0.1%: ⬆️$4,000,000

— Incomes of the top 0.01%: ⬆️$20,000,000

— Meanwhile, incomes of the bottom 50%: ⬆️$8,000

Tax the rich.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 29, 2019

Since 1970:

— Incomes of the top 1% of Americans: ⬆️$800,000

— Incomes of the top 0.1%: ⬆️$4,000,000

— Incomes of the top 0.01%: ⬆️$20,000,000

— Meanwhile, incomes of the bottom 50%: ⬆️$8,000

Tax the rich.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 29, 2019

How unequal is wealth distribution in the U.S.?

In short: very.

Federal Reserve data show the top 1% now owns nearly a third of all household wealth in the U.S. — while the bottom 50% of people own 1.9%. https://t.co/LD1nspss15

— NPR (@NPR) December 16, 2019

Recovery from the recession has seen retirement wealth accumulate almost exclusively among affluent households. While prospects for middle- and lower-income Americans’ retirement security have even deteriorated during the decade. https://t.co/dF9IqnopPt

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 14, 2019

It’s always been weird to me that a generic “unemployment” percent is trotted out to indicate whether employment is “low” or “high”—especially now that we can see nearly half of jobs pay closer to paying nothing at all than they pay pay close to an actual living wage. https://t.co/QqbgphjJvw

— Dr. Steven W. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) December 8, 2019

By the 2016 election, the richest one-hundredth of one percent of Americans – 24,949 very wealthy people – accounted for a record-breaking 40 percent of all campaign contributions.

24,949 people in a population of 323.4 million.

Let that sink in.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 5, 2019

Since 2009, the combined wealth of the members of the Forbes 400 list has more than doubled from $1.3 trillion to nearly $3 trillion.

Meanwhile, their taxable income has fallen from 27% to 23% over the same time.

They are worth more than ever, but paying less.

Tax the rich.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 1, 2019

The money left behind for middle-class Americans is dwarfed by that inherited by the children of the very wealthy https://t.co/aHw3dngNh1

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 30, 2019

Fraction of all US wealth owned by Boomers & Gen-Xers when the average member of each was age 35:

Boomers, 1989 21%
GenX, 2008 8%

The average Millennial turns 35 in 2023. Right now they own 3%.

There will surely be political implications.https://t.co/j1pNrt8mll

— Kurt Andersen (@KBAndersen) November 24, 2019

Hey teens! Wealth inequality isn’t fleek or fire 🔥🔥, that’s why I wrote an article to show you that you don’t need fat stacks 💰💰💰 to be radical! 💯💯💯 https://t.co/39UZk7ttlB

— Philip Bump (@pbump) July 9, 2019

Further reminder that regional inequality is not only about the coasts vs interior, but also within regions: the vast majority of growth and prosperity in Texas is accruing to a handful of major cities, while most of the state's smaller cities fall behind: https://t.co/N0JGjaSpzr

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) July 9, 2019

This is outrageous. https://t.co/C3vxg4jmdZ

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 5, 2019

The number of billionaires in the United States has more than doubled in the last decade, from 267 in 2008 to 607 last year.

Tax the rich. https://t.co/IRQB95rKpm

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) July 3, 2019

Richest 1% now holding record $303.9 billion, up from under $15 billion before financial crisis. They’re betting on companies that lose $1 billion a year, bonds from Middle Eastern republics, Silicon Valley start-ups with more money than they can handle.https://t.co/TAlChrDg0T

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) June 10, 2019

“I was wrong…[E]ducationism is tragically misguided. American workers are struggling in large part because they are underpaid—and they are underpaid because 40 years of trickle-down policies have rigged the economy in favor of wealthy people like me.” https://t.co/BgOl1R7xAH

— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) June 10, 2019

income inequality has become the starting point for every economic debate in the 2020 campaign

in this @CNBC video and column, we step back and explain why the gap between the wealthy and everyone else keeps growinghttps://t.co/VrRb0aXFfA

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 5, 2019

In Opinion

Joseph E. Stiglitz writes, "The U.S. has the highest level of inequality among the advanced countries and one of the lowest levels of opportunity. But things don’t have to be that way." https://t.co/OPFHnY7wRe

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 20, 2019

Trump's economy is booming, but so is inequality | Analysis by CNN's Zachary B. Wolf https://t.co/q5TSrTR4oN pic.twitter.com/uQwqqwSGAH

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 1, 2019

When we talk about growing regional inequality in the US, we often focus on winner take all cities on the coasts. But this nifty feature in the weekend FT is a reminder that gaps are also growing between regional winner cities & struggling cousins nearby. https://t.co/PL1R8UheHd

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) June 3, 2019

This is extremely bad and not at all good. https://t.co/ej9M3I0n3L

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) May 28, 2019

It’s called theft https://t.co/HbTOAJK62E

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 7, 2019

5 reasons why income inequality has become a major political issue (@JOHNJHARWOOD) https://t.co/stvLurtl8L pic.twitter.com/tcC6aPXpBl

— OpinionToday.com (@OpinionToday) June 5, 2019

This is an absolutely amazing thread — https://t.co/NVAIkjHAJn

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) April 21, 2019

Wall Street bonuses are 52 percent higher than a decade ago.

If the minimum wage had kept pace with the same growth as Wall Street bonuses, the hourly baseline wage would be $33.51 an hour. https://t.co/fXFFrMWrSr

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) April 13, 2019

A very brief history of the post-1980 economy:
– The pay of the top 1% of earners has risen much faster than economic growth.
– The pay of the next 9% has risen with economic growth.
– The pay of the bottom 90% has trailed economic growth. https://t.co/m9MlKOk9Fh pic.twitter.com/V0duykq67K

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) February 25, 2019

Gilded Age 2.0: U.S. income inequality increases to pre-Great Depression levels https://t.co/MyLB4vcFMA

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) February 20, 2019

As leading Democrats roll out proposals to increase taxes on the rich, the American people are largely behind them. Voters overwhelmingly see income inequality as a problem the U.S. government should be trying to address. https://t.co/ZyHBsVjtVM

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 20, 2019

U.S. income inequality has returned to levels not seen since the 1920s — and it could actually be significantly worse, Axios reports.

The top 1% owns about 40% of total household wealth. https://t.co/qi1G6SqRcK

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 18, 2019

There is simply too much inequality in cities for people to believe a rising tide will lift their boats. https://t.co/FCkoeB6JAL

— Slate (@Slate) February 15, 2019

Since 1982, three families (Koch, Waltons, & Mars) have seen their wealth increase nearly 6,000 percent, adjusted for inflation.

Meanwhile, the median household wealth went down 3 percent over the same period. Let that sink in.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 26, 2019