I just ran across a very interesting chart showing changes in wealth inequality over the last century:

The thing that is new to me is the high point of wealth ownership by the 90%. If you look at the peak, it occurred in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. This may explain why he is so romanticised in some quarters: His administration corresponded to a peak in equitable wealth distribution.

So what happened in 1986? The Savings and Loan Crisis for one. I don't know of any connection here, but I could see refinancing on harsher terms as part of the bailout eating into the equity of many.

Edit: The embedding doesn't work well on some displays, so here is the link. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Edit: Change the display size.