▁financial ▁and ▁bank ing ▁se ctors , ▁increased ▁cons olid ation ▁of ▁the ▁corpor ate ▁landscape ▁through ▁mer ger ▁and ▁ac quisition ▁( with ▁en su ing ▁increases ▁in ▁corpor ate ▁executive ▁compens ation ), ▁increased ▁potential ▁for ▁corpor ate / g overn ment ▁cor ruption ▁and ▁mal fe as ance , ▁and ▁a ▁lack ▁of ▁entrepr ene ur ial ▁and ▁small ▁business ▁development ▁leading ▁to ▁le th arg ic ▁and ▁st agn ant ▁economic ▁conditions . ▁ ▁Today , ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁virt ually ▁all ▁of ▁these ▁economic ▁conditions ▁are ▁being ▁bor ne ▁out . ▁ ▁With ▁regard ▁to ▁income ▁inequality , ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 4 ▁income ▁analysis ▁of ▁University ▁of ▁California , ▁Ber keley ▁econom ist ▁Em manuel ▁S ae z ▁confir ms ▁that ▁relative ▁growth ▁of ▁income ▁and ▁wealth ▁is ▁not ▁occurr ing ▁among ▁small ▁and ▁mid - s ized ▁entrepr ene urs ▁and ▁business ▁own ers ▁( who ▁generally ▁populate ▁the ▁lower ▁half ▁of ▁top ▁one ▁per - cent ers ▁in ▁income ), ▁but ▁instead ▁only ▁among ▁the ▁top ▁. 1 ▁percent ▁of ▁income ▁distribution ▁... ▁whom ▁Paul ▁K rug man ▁describes ▁as ▁" super - el ites ▁- ▁corpor ate ▁big wig s ▁and ▁financial ▁whe eler - de al ers ." ▁... ▁who ▁ear n ▁$ 2 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁or ▁more ▁every ▁year . ▁ ▁For ▁example , ▁measured ▁relative ▁to ▁G DP , ▁total ▁compens ation ▁and ▁its ▁component ▁w ages ▁and ▁sal aries ▁have ▁been