The economy is, at its core, still the same market capitalism that it has been since it was forged during the industrial revolution. As such, it is based on competition that produces winners and losers. Therefore, most people have not shared in the economic expansion. Indeed the gap between the wealthy and poor in the US has grown to the highest that it has been since before the Great Depression. One need not look far to see Chinese immigrants working for subminimum wages in the restaurants and Southeast Asian day laborers handling hazardous substances without training or safety gear.
Owners still get a disproportionate share of the wealth that is created through their labor.
There is still abject poverty amidst unbelievable wealth in this country. Compared to such wealth, the high unemployment, poverty and concomitant ills of inner city, rural America and the Indian reservations appear as a huge contradiction to the overall growth in productivity and wealth. More so than ever before, education is the gatekeeper to economic advancement. Two period was supposed to be the great equalizer. Some individuals have been able to use education as a steppingstone to economic security.