How wealth inequality crowds out America’s success

What happens when a lot of money — I mean, a lot of money — is concentrated in a few hands?

The nation runs the risk of economic failure.

This short video says that more money is concentrated in fewer hands than we think.

Description from the maker, Politizane:

Infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actual numbers. The reality is often not what we think it is.

This is just one facet of the figures necessary for having rational discussions about tax reform, federal budget and deficit cutting, tax policy, and economic and monetary policy.

But it’s an ugly portrait, isn’t it?  How much does it differ from the France of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette?  How much does it differ from the going-to-hell-in-an-accelerating-handbasket U.S. of 1929?  Wealth’s concentration in the hands of a tiny few literally crowds out hundreds of millions of Americans from the ability to successfully accumulate modest nest eggs.

What do you think?

I wish the film’s creator had provided citations.

Have things improved since 2007?  Look at this chart based on Institute for Policy Studies figures:

Source: Institute for Policy Studies, via BusinessInsider

More:

• Viral Video Reveals the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)
• The Life Enhancing, Unrelenting Brilliance of Income Inequality (forbes.com)
• Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality (mashable.com)
• 15 mind-blowing charts about income inequality (businessinsider.com)

More, since the original posting:

• [Infographic] Wealth inequality in America (mrtompratt.com)
• How Bad Is Wealth Inequality in America? (washingtonmonthly.com)
• Wealth Inequality in America (dprogram.net)
• Wealth Inequality in America (ritholtz.com)

Update March 9, 2013:  This is funny, to me:  Some people think just talking about this stuff is “class warfare.”  How are they so familiar with class warfare, you wonder?  That’s a self-answering question, isn’t it?