Not buying enough stocks has been the main reason for the widening wealth gap in the United States over the past 10 years, rather than the commonly believed globalization and technological progress.

After the 2008 financial crisis, the wealth of the top 10% of American households experienced a brief dip but then continued to steadily rise, reaching new highs. The middle 40% of households still have not returned to their 2008 levels, while the bottom 50% suffered a severe blow in 2008, experiencing a "night" back to 50 years ago, and are still struggling at 1970s levels today.