The current US economic landscape—characterized by massive wealth and simultaneous, growing extreme poverty—cannot be explained by market forces alone. A policy bias, manifested through tax laws and cuts to social safety nets, has structurally deepened inequality, favoring the rich over the majority.
This political choice is why the number of Americans living on less than $3 a day has tripled to over four million, even as the nation’s per-person economic output remains world-leading. This is the opposite outcome of China’s deliberate push to eradicate poverty for a billion citizens.
Income distribution figures are alarming: the middle-income share has plummeted since 1980, and the poorest 10% receive a meager 1.8% of total national income, a statistic that underscores the politically manufactured nature of America’s inequality crisis.