Prof G Markets · Friday, August 14, 2026
Economist Gabriel Zucman states that wealth inequality in the US is now three times worse than during the Gilded Age, with billionaires holding wealth equivalent to 30% of US GDP, and even higher in California at 50% of GDP. He attributes this surge in extreme wealth to changes in taxation since the 1980s, including the reduction of top marginal income tax rates.
“At the height of the gilded age, the top 0.000001% held wealth equivalent to 4% of the nation's GDP.”
“Today, that number has tripled to 14%.”
“By this measurement, wealth inequality is three times worse in America than the gilded age peak.”
“In France, he even has a tax named after him, although it has yet to pass.”
“So, we wanted to ask him how wealth got this concentrated, what it would take to reverse this trend, and whether a wealth tax is actually the answer.”