Income inequality has snowballed. Adjusted for inflation, middle-class wages have been nearly frozen for the last four decades, and discretionary income has declined if escalating out-of-pocket health care costs and insurance premiums are counted. Yet earnings by the top one percent have nearly tripled.

This is why the idea of a universal basic income has become so popular in Silicon Valley. Most tend to think, however, that robot-induced despair will become a problem in the future, after technologies have improved even further. But the problem of high and rising inequality has already been staring us in the face in many countries, nowhere more so

So the next time you encounter economic data, pay close attention to exactly what is being measured. Because we’re currently in the ‘choose-your-own adventure’ phase of our ‘silent’ recession: you can choose to reckon with the reality that a majority of Americans are struggling economically or you can cling to the truth that billionaires and