<P> The nature of tax policies in America has been suggested by economists and politicians such as Emmanuel Saez, Thomas Piketty, and Barack Obama to perpetuate economic inequality in America by steering large sums of wealth into the hands of the wealthiest Americans . The mechanism for this is that when the wealthy avoid paying taxes, wealth concentrates to their coffers and the poor go into debt . </P> <P> The economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs, sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it ." The long fall in unionization in the U.S. since WWII has seen a corresponding rise in the inequality of wealth and income . </P> <P> The wealth gap between white and black families nearly tripled from $85,000 in 1984 to $236,500 in 2009 . </P> <P> There are many causes, including years of home ownership, household income, unemployment, and education, but inheritance might be the most important . Inheritance can directly link the disadvantaged economic position and prospects of today's blacks to the disadvantaged positions of their parents' and grandparents' generations . According to a report done by Robert B. Avery and Michael S. Rendall, "one in three white households will receive a substantial inheritance during their lifetime compared to only one in ten black households ." This relative lack of inheritance that has been observed among African Americans can be attributed in large part to factors such as unpaid labor (slavery), violent destruction of personal property in incidents such as Red Summer of 1919, unequal opportunity in education and employment (racial discrimination), and more recent policies such as redlining and planned shrinkage . Other ethnic minorities, particularly those with darker complexions, have at times faced many of these same adversities to various degrees . </P>

What government policies have helped to increase the share of wealth held by the top 1 percent