Riches-to-Rags Stories Are Rare These Days

If the 2016 presidential campaign was defined by clashes over race and gender, the 2020 campaign is noteworthy for its focus on class and wealth. Of the three front runners, two -- Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren -- have made antipathy toward the country’s wealthiest individuals a centerpiece of their campaign. Warren, for example, recently released a campaign mug emblazoned with the phrase “billionaire tears.”

Why the sudden outpouring of class resentment? After all, there were plenty of billionaires in the U.S. during earlier elections, and wealth inequality was quite high for most of the past four decades. But the legitimacy of vast fortunes wasn't a focus at the time. One reason might be delayed anger at the bursting of the housing bubble, in which many middle-class Americans lost their nest eggs while many wealthy people (who have much of their money in stocks) emerged with little more than a scratch: