Cracks in the American dream -- A primer on household wealth -- Pathways to wealth accumulation -- Recognizing our past -- Evidence of wealth privilege -- Three views of the American dream -- Resilience and wealth privilege -- The spiral of privilege and policy -- The white plutocracy system

Using microeconomic data on 2,500 savers of the savings bank Ludwigsburg, we study individual savings behavior in 19th century-Germany. We show that wealthy savers responded to an increase in the expected inflation rate (and falling real interest rate) by increasing their savings, suggesting...