“THE TOP FIFTH of American households claimed 50.4 percent of all income last year, the largest slice since the Census Bureau started tracking the data in 1967.” So reported the Wall Street Journal just one day before the Commerce Department announced that second-quarter corporate profits were 20.5 percent higher than a year ago and accounted for 12.2 percent of gross domestic product, the highest level in 40 years. Throw in reports of layoffs at Ford, GM, and Intel and decisions in the nation’s boardrooms to reduce the value of workers’ pensions while preserving those of executives and board members, and you have some reason to wonder whether the famous American dream has not turned into a nightmare.

Something is definitely going on that has many observers of the American scene more than a bit worried, this writer included. Since the 2001 recession year, the economy has grown by almost 12 percent while the income of the median household–the point at which half of American households have more, and half less–has declined by 0.5 percent. Last year, earnings for full-time workers actually declined–by 1.8 percent for men, and 1.3 percent for women.