Work

How Invisible Capital Gains Drive Extreme U.S Wealth Concentration:Evidence from Balance-Sheet-Complete Haig-Simons Accounting

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Researchers of income, wealth and inequality have long called for data series of total “Haig-Simons” (H-S) income, which includes accrued capital gains, but a data set of that measure has not been available. We integrate NIPA income and saving measures with Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts (IMAs) data to derive an open-access, balance sheet-complete data set for use by researchers, of 1960-2023 “Total U.S. Haig-Simons Household Income Accounts” (THIAs) for U.S. households, with distributional estimates covering 2000-2023. We also calculate Total H-S Saving (deducting outlays/uses from H-S Income), which equals change in balance-sheet net worth. We highlight five trends in this data that all contribute to the increased U.S. wealth concentration since the late 1970s. For instance, 91% of Haig-Simons saving/wealth accumulation since 2000 accrued to the top 20% of households (by income), driven heavily by asset-price increases, plus top households’ lower and declining propensities to consume out of income, and especially out of wealth.

Source: University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology)

Authors: Roth, Steve, Bezemer, Dirk

Institution: University of Groningen

Language: English

Topic: Income, Poverty, and Inequality

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: National IT Industry Promotion Agency

OpenAlex ID: W7203847896