Opinion: Why growing income inequality matters

Income inequality is kind of like climate change. There are those who insist there’s no such thing, and then there are the facts.
 
The gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is widening into a chasm and the United States’ rapidly disappearing middle class is teetering on the verge of falling in. When 90 percent of households are called the “bottom” 90 percent, something needs to be adjusted. Recently, people with power, from the president to the pope, have started to weigh in.
 
In an opinion piece for CNNMoney, Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, shares his ideas on why the economic divide became so wide and the devastating impacts it will have on current and future generations. He also points out that most Americans do not begrudge those who are successful, but are keenly aware that growing economic disparity has created a very uneven playing field that has created barriers to opportunity.
 
Want to see for yourself if the income divide is real? Check out this graphic.

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