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Among countless US citizens, the economic climate over the recent five-year span has been tough. Prices have soared while salaries remains stagnant. Steep mortgage rates have made purchasing property a bleak prospect. The unemployment rate has been slowly rising.

The majority of individuals have stated they're putting off major life decisions, including having kids or changing careers, because of economic uncertainty. But for a tiny fraction of people, the recent half-decade couldn't have been any better.

Wealth Explosion

The fortune of the world's billionaires increased 54% in 2020, at the climax of the pandemic. And even throughout all the financial uncertainty, the stock market has only persisted in expanding. This growth has primarily advantaged just a tiny percentage of Americans: 10% of the population owns 93% of stock market wealth.

As uneven as this distribution seems, it's the economic framework working as it is existing today.

"The wealthy have acquired their jets, they've bought their multiple houses and mansions, but now they're buying senators and media outlets," stated inequality researcher Chuck Collins. "We're now entering this other chapter of maximum resource removal where the wealthy are taking advantage of the system of inequality."

Understanding Wealth Tiers

To help others grasp what exactly it means to be "wealthy" in the US, Collins borrows a concept from journalist Robert Frank who, in a 2007 book on the rich, envisioned the different levels of wealth as "Wealthville" villages: Prosperity Village, Lower Richistan, Middle Richistan, Upper Richistan and Billionaireville.

To update the concept, Collins classifies these "wealth villages" based on income levels:

• At the lowest tier, Affluent Town, are the 10 million Americans who have a household income of at least $110,000 and an overall wealth of over $1.5m.
• The villages get more select as wealth goes up: Lower Richistan has 2.6 million households who have wealth between $6m and $13m.
• Middle Richistan has 1.3 million households who have assets worth an average of $37m.
• Upper Richistan, made up of 130,000 Americans (roughly the size of a small city) has between $60m to $1bn in wealth.

In total, the residents of these villages make up the top 10% of the wealth income distribution, about 14 million Americans altogether, though their lifestyles vary dramatically.

"You could be in Lower Richistan, and you're still sitting in the coach section of a commercial plane," Collins said. "Whereas in Upper Richistan, you're flying in a private jet. That's a really distinct lifestyle. You fly private, you have no investment in the commercial aviation system. You don't care if the whole system fails – you're set."

Ultra-Wealth Impact

The highest hill in "Richistan" is Billionaireville, which is made up of about 800 American billionaires who are some of the world's wealthiest. The control that this group has far surpasses those who are simply affluent, let alone the typical citizen who doesn't inhabit "Richistan" at all.

But Collins thinks the progressive slogan "abolish billionaires" fails to address the core issue and has a "whiff of exterminism" to it.

"It's the difference between personal actions and a framework of policies," Collins explained. "We should be worried about an economic system that directs so much wealth upward to the billionaires."

Wealth Accumulation Mechanisms

To understand how wealth at the billionaire level works, Collins divides it into four parts: getting the wealth, defending the wealth, political capture and maximum resource extraction.

When many Americans think about wealth, they usually think only about the first step, Collins said. People can create a limited sum of wealth through establishing or managing a successful business, which could get them admission in Affluent Town.

But getting to Billionaireville requires substantial commitment and strategy in those next three steps. Collins describes what he calls the "asset protection sector": the tax lawyers, accountants and wealth managers who use their knowledge to ensure that the super rich are being deliberate about their taxes.

"Wealth defense professionals use a broad range of tools such as legal entities, international accounts, anonymous shell companies, philanthropic entities and other mechanisms to hold assets," he explains.

Government Power and Extreme Wealth Removal

To advance a wealth defense strategy, a family needs political support. Wealth of over $40m converts to political power, Collins says, and can be used to protect assets and ensure continued growth.

The ultimate step is a different kind of wealth accumulation, one that Collins calls "maximum taking" to describe how the wealthy have come to touch nearly every single part of an Americans' daily existence largely through capital management, which allows wealthy individuals to fund private companies.

"Private equity is looking for those sectors of the economy where they can increase profits a little bit harder," Collins said. "One thing I don't think people comprehend is these billionaire private-equity funds are what happens when so much wealth is accumulated in so few hands, and they can essentially pivot and say, 'Where else can we extract profits out of the economy?' Healthcare? Great. Mobile home parks? These people can't go anywhere, [so] you can increase their costs."

Tangible Effects

The consequences of this inequality go beyond the wealth getting wealthier. It's about people facing higher costs for their healthcare, rent and vet bills without seeing any significant salary growth. And Collins said the suffering and anger of this kind of society can lead to profound dissatisfaction.

"The most powerful wealthy elites understand people are being excluded [and] are monetarily hurting," Collins said, adding that conservative politicians have been good at connecting with a potent "false common-man appeal".

Government Truth

The irony, Collins points out in his book, is that elected representatives have appointed a succession of billionaires to administrative posts. Along with affluent innovators who had temporary but significant roles overseeing substantial reductions to the federal workforce, other crucial appointments for commerce, treasury, education and the interior are also all billionaires.

This government structure, along with help from political partners, helped pass significant fiscal policies, which will make permanent tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

Future Solutions

While government groups continue to argue that immigration and poor economic deals are the source of everyone's economic problems, "the question becomes: Will the opposing party, which has also been influenced by the billionaires and big money, be able to effectively tackle the underlying harms?" Collins said.

Liberal leaders, he argues, know what policies are needed to "reverse the updraft of wealth", including substantial modifications to the tax system, boosting the minimum wage and supporting labor organizations.

"It was so, so close, and the legislation really did reflect the will of the bulk of people who really want lawmakers to solve some of these critical challenges," Collins said. "Elite control is not about creating so much as stopping. It's easier to block than it is to make something significant occur, but the institutional knowledge is there. We know what that looks like."

Collins is positive that there can be change, but said it would require sustained political momentum.

"It may be before we know it that the tide turns, and then it really is about maintaining a sustained really popular movement to make progress on this severe disparity we're living in," he said. "We can fix this. It is fixable."