Monica, there also is a microeconomic element at work accelerating the migration of wealth to the 1%.

The socioeconomic "bargan" that free market capitalism impllies contains an assumption. The assumption is that the production of goods and services by definition, includes an optimized level of labour compensation paid to workers. That compensation is then used to purchase all the goods and services required by a human to support their existance. Two sides of a balanced scale. Up until about 40 years ago or so, this balancing act generally resulted in fueling a middle class with enough weight to generate a relatively stable economy.

However, as the unending march toward replacing human labour with machine labour accellerates driven by "Moore's Law", the supply/demand curve for human labour is disconnecting from the economy one job class at a time. The income that used to go to humans now moves to the owners of the capital equipment replacing them. I think a decade or two from now historians will report this was the root cause of increasing inequality.

I think money is simply the transport mechanism.