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Among countless US citizens, the economy over the last half-decade has been tough. Expenses have escalated while pay remains flat. Steep mortgage rates have made homeownership a dismal prospect. The unemployment rate has been gradually increasing.

Most people have indicated they're putting off major life decisions, including starting a family or changing careers, because of financial volatility. But for a tiny fraction of people, the last five years couldn't have been any better.

Fortune Expansion

The assets of the world's billionaires expanded 54% in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. And even throughout all the market volatility, the stock market has only persisted in expanding. This increase has largely benefited just a small number of Americans: 10% of the population controls 93% of stock market wealth.

Despite the imbalance as this allocation seems, it's the system working as it is existing today.

"Rich elites have bought their jets, they've purchased their multiple houses and mansions, but now they're buying senators and media outlets," stated economic inequality analyst Chuck Collins. "We're now entering this other chapter of hyper-extraction where the wealthy are preying on the system of inequality."

Understanding Wealth Tiers

To help others grasp what exactly it means to be "wealthy" in the US, Collins adopts a concept from journalist Robert Frank who, in a 2007 book on the rich, conceptualized the different levels of wealth as "Affluencia" villages: Wealth Borough, Lower Richistan, Middle Richistan, Upper Richistan and Billionaireville.

To modernize the concept, Collins categorizes these "wealth villages" based on income levels:

• At the lowest tier, Affluent Town, are the 10 million Americans who have a household income of at least $110,000 and an total assets of over $1.5m.
• The villages get more exclusive as wealth goes up: Lower Richistan has 2.6 million households who have wealth between $6m and $13m.
• Middle Richistan has 1.3 million households who have assets worth an average of $37m.
• Upper Richistan, made up of 130,000 Americans (roughly the size of a small city) has between $60m to $1bn in wealth.

Altogether, the residents of these villages constitute the top 10% of the wealth income distribution, about 14 million Americans altogether, though their lifestyles vary dramatically.

"You could be in Lower Richistan, and you're still flying in the coach section of a commercial plane," Collins noted. "Whereas in Upper Richistan, you're traveling via a private jet. That's a really separate reality. You fly private, you have no interest in the commercial aviation system. You don't care if the whole system collapses – you're set."

The Billionaireville Effect

The peak in "Richistan" is Billionaireville, which is made up of about 800 American billionaires who are some of the world's richest. The control that this group has substantially outweighs those who are simply affluent, let alone the typical citizen who doesn't live in "Richistan" at all.

But Collins thinks the progressive slogan "billionaires shouldn't exist" misses the point and has a "hint of elimination" to it.

"It's the distinction between private conduct and a framework of policies," Collins commented. "We should be concerned about an economic system that channels so much wealth upward to the billionaires."

Fortune Building Strategies

To understand how wealth at the billionaire level works, Collins divides it into four parts: acquiring fortune, defending the wealth, government influence and maximum resource extraction.

When many Americans think about wealth, they usually think only about the first step, Collins said. People can create a reasonable quantity of wealth through establishing or managing a successful business, which could get them residency in Affluent Town.

But getting to Billionaireville requires significant resources and tactics in those next three steps. Collins describes what he calls the "asset protection sector": the tax lawyers, accountants and wealth managers who use their expertise to ensure that the super rich are being deliberate about their taxes.

"Wealth defense professionals use a wide variety of tools such as financial instruments, offshore bank accounts, anonymous shell companies, non-profit organizations and other mechanisms to hold assets," he details.

Political Influence and Hyper-Extraction

To advance a wealth defense strategy, a family needs policy assistance. Wealth of over $40m becomes political power, Collins says, and can be used to secure fortune and protect its accumulation.

The last stage is a different kind of wealth accumulation, one that Collins calls "maximum taking" to describe how the wealthy have come to influence nearly every single part of an Americans' everyday life largely through investment firms, which allows wealthy individuals to support private companies.

"Private equity is seeking those sectors of the economy where they can increase profits a little bit harder," Collins said. "One thing I don't think people comprehend is these billionaire private-equity funds are what happens when so much wealth is parked in so few hands, and they can kind of turn around and say, 'Where else can we generate returns out of the economy?' Healthcare? Great. Mobile home parks? These people can't go anywhere, [so] you can boost their expenses."

Actual Impacts

The results of this inequality go beyond the wealth getting wealthier. It's about people paying more for their healthcare, rent and vet bills without seeing any meaningful wage increases. And Collins said the hardship and discontent of this kind of society can lead to profound dissatisfaction.

"The most powerful affluent rulers understand people are being marginalized [and] are financially struggling," Collins said, adding that conservative politicians have been good at accessing a potent "fake grassroots movement".

Political Reality

The paradox, Collins points out in his book, is that political leaders have appointed a succession of billionaires to administrative posts. Along with tech billionaires who had temporary but significant roles overseeing significant decreases to the federal workforce, other crucial appointments for commerce, treasury, education and the interior are also all billionaires.

This political landscape, along with help from legislative supporters, helped pass significant fiscal policies, which will make enduring decreases for the wealthy and corporations.

Potential Changes

While political parties continue to argue that border policies and poor economic deals are the source of everyone's economic problems, "the issue remains: Will the other major party, which has also been controlled by the billionaires and big money, be able to effectively tackle the underlying harms?" Collins said.

Liberal leaders, he argues, know what policies are needed to "alter economic flow", including substantial modifications to the tax system, boosting the minimum wage and supporting labor organizations.

"It was so, so close, and the bill really did reflect the will of the bulk of people who really want lawmakers to address some of these pressing issues," Collins said. "Elite control is not about building so much as stopping. It's easier to block than it is to make something meaningful happen, but the historical precedent is there. We know what that looks like."

Collins is positive that there can be change, but said it would require ongoing legislative effort.

"It may be before we know it that the pendulum swings back, and then it really is about maintaining a continuous public campaign to make progress on this extreme inequality we're living in," he said. "We can solve this. It is solvable."