On the surface of it, an increase in the number of wealthy people doesn’t sound like such a bad thing. Isn’t it part of the American dream to get rich? But there are two downsides to this good news. First, the ballooning of the superwealthy class did not happen in isolation from the fortunes of the rest of the population. While the numbers of superrich have multiplied, the income and wealth of the typical American family have actually declined.
