It's a charming coincidence that on the same day it is announced New York has retained its No. 1 position as the state with the greatest inequality between the rich and the poor, The Wall Street Journal comes out with a ginormous story about how it's sooooo hard to find someone to customize one's private plane these days. Demand for personal aircraft has just ballooned in the past few years, the Journal reports, but "completion centers" — those magical places where mere private planes are transformed into dream planes — have not quite caught up. Currently, there are only a few dudes out there who install "mother-of-pearl vanities, gilded ceilings, exotic wood cabinets, hand-made carpeting, multihead showers" gyms and "throne rooms" requested by people such as Saudi prince (and Citigroup majority shareholder) Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a double-decker Airbus A380 with not one but two throne rooms. Poor? Laid off from Bear Stearns? Get your glue gun. Looks like there's a job for you out there after all.

Demand Soars for Firms That Fit Out Private Jets [WSJ]

PULLING APART:
A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends [Center On Budget and Policy Priorities]