THIS article is about the distribution of wealth in the United States, not the distribution of income, about which much has recently been written. I stress this at the outset because the two are often confused in popular discussions of inequality. Indeed, several economists have asked me for copies of my recent work on “the distribution of income,” even though all of my essays have wealth in the title, and none have income. If economists fail to keep the terminology straight, it is not surprising that the press and public are similarly imprecise.