A rather extensive piece, which should be of interest to PEN-L readers. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/20/magazine/20INEQUALITY.html
For Richer By PAUL KRUGMAN I. The Disappearing Middle II. The New Gilded Age III. Undoing the New Deal IV. The Price of Inequality V. Inequality and Politics VI. Plutocracy? I. The Disappearing Middle When I was a teenager growing up on Long Island, one of my favorite excursions was a trip to see the great Gilded Age mansions of the North Shore. Those mansions weren't just pieces of architectural history. They were monuments to a bygone social era, one in which the rich could afford the armies of servants needed to maintain a house the size of a European palace. By the time I saw them, of course, that era was long past. Almost none of the Long Island mansions were still private residences. Those that hadn't been turned into museums were occupied by nursing homes or private schools. [...] Bill
