Income inequality in America is at its highest level since the 1928, just before the country suffered the worst recession in its history. Is the economy headed for another crash? No one knows for sure, but there are some startling numbers.

• Since 1979, the real after-tax income has risen 201 percent for the top one percent of earners, while the middle 60 percent of earners gained 40 percent.
• While productivity has increased over 254 percent since 1948, real hourly compensation has risen just over 113 percent.
• Since the 1980s, the top 10 percent of wage earners have controlled 80 percent of the stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average has increased 14 fold in that time.
• The average effective federal tax rates for the top one percent of earners has dropped from over 70 percent in 1960 to 34 percent in 2004.
• Since 1979, the top 5 percent took home more than half of total income growth. The top 1 percent took nearly 40 percent.

Statistics courtesy of The Atlantic.