On the other side of things, the pandemic has created the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. Entire industries – restaurants, live performances, Hollywood productions, catering, service industries, etc. have shut down. The unemployment rate hit 14% in April. By August it was 8.4%, partly due to some businesses and industries reopening, partly due to unemployment benefits running out and those people no longer being tallied in the overall number of people out of work. Google co-founder Larry Page has seen his wealth increase by more than $18 billion since February. Elon Musk has made $70 billion in that same time, thanks to hitting certain goals, called trenches, laid out in his Tesla contract. Billionaires in general, but especially American billionaires are seeing their wealth grow in unprecedented ways in 2020, creating a larger and larger chasm between the richest Americans and the rest of us.
