A worsening economic crisis due to the shift in wealth over the past decade is the central concern of this study. It profiles the current status of income inequality in the United States and discerns trends for the future. A wealth of data has been collected, evaluated, and simplified into a look at both the economic changes brought on by misguided reforms of the 1980s and a proposed system for measuring income inequality which may help clarify the issues pertinent to the debate. Folke Dovring perceives the current U.S. economy as an imminent threat to our democratic system, and urges increased awareness of the variables which will effect its return to a healthy state of balance where income inequality, necessary to a certain degree, sustains productivity and individual incentives.