however the income distribution can only remain stable if the growth rate of income is equal at all percentiles of the distribution this paper compares longrun levels of real income growth at the very top and for the bottom and bottom in the united states canada and australia to illustrate the uniqueness of the postwwh period of balanced growth and consequent stability in the income distribution the new normal of the united states canada and australia is unbalanced growth specifically over the last thirty years the incomes of the top have grown significantly more rapidly than those of everyone else