What you’ve failed to point out is that their end argument ends up being, eventually: “let them eat cake”.

We know how that turns out in the end and it isn’t pretty. But maybe it is a cycle that can’t be stopped: fundamentally, their individual self interests overwhelm any sensible realization that the greater good has a more stable, long term benefit.

When I do look at the statistics presented, however, it does seem as if there might still be room for criticism in terms of a third-variable bias. Although there does seem to be increases in per capita earnings at the higher quintiles paralleled with increases in income inequality, the data does not suggest where the causal relationship between the two statistics lays. What is it specifically about the wealthy becoming wealthier that is causing lower incomes to grow at a slower rate: how is their gain another’s loss? I would find it compelling to hear your analysis on how productive capacities might bridge the causal gap. Since real average wages, which affect lower classes at higher rates than the upper classes, have been decreasing since the 1970′s, all the while productive capacity has been on the rise, the link may be that higher incomes are siphoning the excess of productive increases in some way. Other ideas and more well carved out ideas are out there as well, but too much information for one comment! Thanks!