Has anyone ever read Winner Take All Politics by Hacker and Pierson? It talks a lot about the changes America's economic system has undergone since the 70s, how the minimum wage hasn't kept pace with productivity or inflation, how corporations have dodged regulation, etc. It also debunks a lot of corporate myths and disproves bad faith arguments for why class inequality exists at the level it does today. It's definitely a must read if you live in the USA. Both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in this.