Trends in income and wealth inequality

Abstract

These notes provide an empirical overview on the trends in income and wealth inequality for the United States. The empirical results are based on household micro data from the Survey of Consumer Finances 1992 - 2010. In addition, I present new facts on the distribution of liquid assets in the cross-section and over time. I find that both income and wealth inequality have increased when looking at the Gini coefficient. The Great Recession has led to an increase in wealth inequality. The amount of liquid assets constitutes depending on the strictness of the liquidity definition either 40 % of networth or income.