Wealth of Two Nations: The U.S. Racial Wealth Gap, 1860–2020.

This article focuses on the long-term evolution of the racial wealth gap between Black and white Americans in the United States from 1860 to 2020, presenting the first continuous national series of white-to-Black per capita wealth ratios. Drawing on historical census data, state tax records, and the Survey of Consumer Finances, the study finds a "hockey stick" pattern of convergence: rapid narrowing of the gap in the first 50 years after Emancipation, followed by stagnation and a widening since the 1980s. A parsimonious wealth accumulation model attributes the persistent gap primarily to vastly unequal initial wealth conditions under slavery, differences in savings behavior, and capital gains—particularly the latter's role since 1980 due to portfolio composition disparities, with white households holding more equity benefiting disproportionately from stock market gains. The findings suggest that while policies targeting income, savings, and capital gains are important, addressing the initial wealth disparities through wealth redistribution, such as reparations, is crucial for immediate reductions in racial wealth inequality, though lasting change likely requires combined stock- and flow-based interventions.