, Columnist
Resentment of Crazy-Rich Americans Isn’t Just Envy
People are bothered by a sense that the system is rigged and unfair.
Not exactly economy class.
Photographer: Seong Joon Cho/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the forthcoming movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” an American woman discovers that her boyfriend belongs to Singapore’s secretive, obnoxious jet set. It’s fun to laugh at the ultrarich when they’re just a caricature on a screen. But it’s possible that the increasing visibility of crazy rich Americans is fueling rising anger about inequality.
In the past few decades, the U.S. has greatly improved its social safety net. And the country’s middle class has seen real income gains. But a 2015 New York Times/CBS poll found broad concern about inequality: