Why America’s rich keep getting richer | CNN Business

America’s economy has been split in two for a long time. In 1989, households in the top 10% of earnings held 32% of America’s overall wealth, according to the Federal Reserve. By 2025, that number had climbed to 68%. There’s a name for the phenomenon: the K-shaped economy. The rich keep getting richer, and everyone else is getting left behind, at least by comparison. The K has gotten significantly wider recently – particularly over the past 3 years since the inflation crisis. But it’s not just about how much people make: It’s about what they own and how they spend their money. Good news: Americans across all income brackets got richer over the past 3 years! But wealthy Americans’ net worth is growing at a much faster pace than middle- and lower-income Americans’. The net worth of the top 1% grew 30% over the past 3 years. The middle 40% grew by less than 10% over that same period. Why? It comes down two three things: housing, stocks and inflation. The top 20% own more than half of America’s overall home value — which has surged in the past several years. And as mortgage rates have risen, lower-income Americans have gotten locked out from the American Dream. Just