Context:
Wealth inequality in the United States (also known as the
wealth gap[1]) refers to the unequal distribution of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset among residents of the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments.
[2] Just prior to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address, media
[3] reported that the top wealthiest 1% possess 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80% own 7%. The gap between the top 10% and the middle class is over 1,000%; that increases another 1000% for the top 1%. The average employee "needs to work more than a month to earn what the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEO earns in one hour."
[4] Although different from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States,
the two are related. In
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inequality_for_All—a 2013 documentary with Robert Reich in which he argued that income inequality is the defining issue for the United States—Reich states that 95% of economic gains went to the top 1% net worth (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNWI) since 2009 when the recovery allegedly started.
[5]A 2011 study found that US citizens across the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum dramatically underestimate the current US
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality and would prefer a far more egalitarian distribution of wealth.
[6]