Making billions v making ends meet: how the pandemic has split the US economy in two

US billionaires' wealth is soaring while millions remain unemployed, creating a country with two economies and increased inequality

It's only a hundred miles from Manhattan to East Hampton but as the city swelters the Long Island town can seem a world away. Cool Atlantic breezes take the heat off long summer days spent on its miles of white, soft sand beaches. High-priced farm stands provide heirloom tomatoes, peaches and arugula to summer visitors and the mansions of the financial titans and the celebrities, including Beyonce and Jay-Z, Julianne Moore and Robert Downey Jr, who summer there.

Nor does the coronavirus pandemic seem to have dampened the 1%'s enthusiasm for the Hamptons.

Related: Why the Covid-19 financial crisis will leave lasting scars on Gen Z

I feel left behind. Some of my dreams are now halted