This post first appeared at Mother Jones.
We’ll be posting a new chart on the current state of income inequality every day for the next couple of weeks. Our last installment looked at stagnating middle-class incomes.
Today, we look at both sides of the income split and how they’ve traded places. For the first time in a century, the top 10 percent of Americans control more than half of all income. If this trend persists, predicts economist Thomas Piketty, their share will rise to 60 percent by 2030.
(Illustrations and infographic design: Mattias Mackler)
Sources: Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty (Excel)
