Diane Rehm: Implications Of Wealth Inequality In The United States

Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the U. S. economy is emerging from the “Great Recession.” Home sales are rebounding and the auto industry is surging while banks are showing healthier balance sheets and credit is easing. But according to a new study, not everyone is enjoying the same level of improvement; the top one percent of American wages are close to full recovery while the bottom 99 percent have barely begun to recover. In fact, the top 10 percent of U. S. earners took in more than half the country’s total income last year, the first time that has happened in a century. Guest host, Tom Gjelten, and his guests examine what this income gap means for the American economy, society, and political system.