Assuming you have a basic education in economics and statistics I would dive into the academic research. Just keep in mind that like everyone else, academics ha

Assuming you have a basic education in economics and statistics I would dive into the academic research. Just keep in mind that like everyone else, academics have biases of various kinds (e.g. Thomas Piketty is pretty far left) and inequality is a very controversial and political issue. It is best to look to the data and get multiple interpretations. Unfortunately you can't rely on reporters who are even less informed and just as biased. Lastly keep in mind nobody may know the answer to these important questions as the system is very complex and dynamic and the data we have is not very good. Here's a variety of links to get started but you should dig into the references: http://economics-exposed.com/how-arec/ http://economics-exposed.com/how-arec/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_inequality http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/ http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/ http://ntj.tax.org/wwtax/ntjrec.nsf/009a9a91c225e83d852567ed006212d8/30212f14664082b1852579b5006904e1/$FILE/A01_Larrimore.pdf http://ntj.tax.org/wwtax/ntjrec.nsf/009a9a91c225e83d852567ed...