A2 Distributive anomalies

Topic

Extreme concentration is the distributional anomaly that occurs when the top percentile's share of income and wealth crosses a historical polarization threshold and remains there over time—one of the anomalies comprising "Inequality," a theme that the "kinship intensity" track fully engages with whenever it shifts to a new stage. As long as the top percentile's share of income and wealth remains below that historical polarization threshold, the distribution of income and wealth within the "Inequality" category stays within ranges that do not trigger extreme concentration.

It is the sustained crossing of that historical polarization threshold by the top percentile's share of income and wealth that distinguishes extreme concentration from a normal fluctuation; a brief rise in that share is insufficient—it must remain above the historical polarization threshold for extreme concentration to become entrenched as a distributional anomaly.

Middle-class erosion and blocked mobility belong to this same family of distributional anomalies alongside extreme concentration, yet—unlike the latter—they do not yet have a specific trigger variable defined within this model. Both, however, are expected consequences of extreme concentration itself: when the top percentile's share of income and wealth remains above the historical polarization threshold, the segment previously occupied by the middle class tends to erode, and the pathways for upward mobility toward higher income or wealth tend to become blocked.

Monitoring the top percentile's share of income and wealth relative to the historical polarization threshold is, therefore, the direct way to anticipate extreme concentration—and, with it, the middle-class erosion and blocked mobility that typically accompany it.

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