Rising income inequality

Income inequality has increased in the United States since the recession:

"The most striking finding is that the median American family earned 5 per cent less in 2013 than in 2010 after inflation even though the average American family took home 4 per cent more."

That was from Matthew C. Klein, who blogs at the Financial Times, in response to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2013.

Klein further comments: "The discrepancy can be explained by the fact that only people in the top tenth of the income distribution experienced any real income gains since 2010."

The labor market seems to be increasingly divided between those with the most valued skills and everyone else (including, ahem, academics with 9 or more years of higher education under their belt...). (Note that this data is about income inequality, not wealth inequality, which is a separate issue.)

Hat tip to Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution.