[ridgeguy]

On your last point: from a historical chart [1] of U.S. net household wealth (in a 2014 Economist article), it seems the wealth gap didn't collapse or even moderate its increase in 2008. Indeed, it's reached the same territory which, in 1917, inspired the passage of progressive income and estate taxes in the U.S.

[1] http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/inequali...

[partiallypro]

That chart is misleading, because it's measuring the top .01%, and the caption gives me the interpretation that it has an agenda.

Here's a more leveled look: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/09/15/wealth-inequality-shr...

There's no doubt it re-accelerated after the crisis, but a lot of that has to do with credit conditions and tight money for the poor, and loose money for the rich.

[ridgeguy]

Thank you for the link. I think the numbers quoted don't indicate a collapse in the wealth gap around 2008.

The WSJ article includes this observation: "The world is still staggeringly unequal, with the tiny sliver of those with $5 million or more in assets (we don’t have the exact number but it’s clearly a select club) owning more than the total population of those with $100,000 or less."

Perhaps there was a small inflection in the evolving wealth gap curve around 2008, but it seems minor and transitory. The article's numbers seem consistent with that.