Picketty writes about the growing schism between the rich and the rest. Here is real world evidence of how correct he is.
Grocery stores were heavily unionized for decades (prior to Walmart, SuperTarget, Whole Foods and others). The wages - as a 25-year-veteran of the industry said, "It was like working for the UAW." He was making $21/hr in the late eighties with free healthcare and all the fringes to boot. Today, he is making $14.80/hr with expensive healthcare and rotten benefits.
Thirty years ago, I worked in a small-town union grocery store that paid me $12.75/hr. Wages have risen $2/hr in thirty years and benefits have been slashed leaving grocers net negative over THIRTY YEARS.
Another example is electrician's pay. A middle-class "golden era" electrician told me he made $17,000 per year in the late sixties. His gross wages were equal to the cost of a new house in the suburbs and a splashy new car...every year. Today, with the demise of unions, the average electrician makes 50 to 70 grand a year. Median house prices in most markets exceeds $200,000 and a nice new car is $25,000. They now annuallly make about 25 to 33 percent of the cost of a new house and a new car per year - a dramatic decline indeed. The elite blue collar are just getting by today and mom usually must work, too. The Republican's all out assault on workers has been a total success.
Economically, this country is a disgrace and Reagan should be impeached posthumously. You cannot make this stuff up.