While millions of Americans are struggling with a growing consumer debt crisis and surviving paycheck to paycheck, the wealthy are living their best lives — and increasingly so. This stark economic divide is no accident; it is the product of a rentier economy built on asset inflation. It’s also a house of cards. But for those at the top, the living is easy. For now, at least.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, the top 10 percent of earners has grown to account for nearly half of US consumer spending, up about 14 points over the last thirty years. These households enjoy incomes of $250,000 or more each year, money that comes from assets as much as wages or salaries, and that goes to luxury goods and services. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told the Journal that the wealthiest are spending more per capita than everyone else, buoyed by gains in the stock market and real estate.