I think it is a combination of 1: massive money supply expansion - that mostly benefits the already rich: asset owning classes and banks/institutions that get first dibs on cheap money, and 2: globalization/technology - reducing the value of your typical worker though outsourcing, efficiency, culture, etc. 3: The rich entrenching their power, making it more difficult for everyone else who isn't. Not so much a conspiracy, more of some kind of feedback loop we need to break.