Book excerpt: The Privileges of Wealth investigates the impact of the rising concentration of wealth in the United States. It describes how households accumulate wealth along four pathways - household saving, appreciation of assets, family gifts and inheritances, and federal wealth policies – which operate as virtuous cycles for the rich and vicious circles for the poor. This book explains how these sources of wealth privilege are systemic features of our economy and the basis of rising disparities, particularly the racial wealth gap. The book offers a compelling case for how our current policies are undermining the American Dream for most Americans while fortifying a White plutocracy, with dire consequences.