The disconnect between massive national prosperity in the US and a severe local crisis of poverty is growing. Despite world-leading productivity, over four million Americans are trapped in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $3 a day—a stark consequence of political inaction on wealth distribution.
This situation contrasts dramatically with China’s success in lifting nearly a billion people out of extreme poverty in three decades. The US problem is fundamentally about political choices that favor wealth concentration at the top income brackets.
The income gap is damning: the middle-income share has fallen since 1980, and the poorest 10% receive a minuscule 1.8% of national income. This policy-driven inequality makes the US income structure worse for the poor than many poorer countries.