Afford Anything · Friday, October 23, 2026
Research from Treasury Department tax data analyzed by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick indicates that the rise in top 1% income growth over the last 30 to 40 years is predominantly driven by direct business income from closely held, pass-through operating businesses rather than wage income or stock dividends.
“You look at the types of income and it's not wage income. mostly that's driving especially the growth in the top one percent it's business income and specifically it's direct business income from a closely held business”
“And that's driving the rise of income growth at the top over the last 30, 40 years. It accounts for more than half of the rise of the top 1% income share over that time period.”