This article from the Conde Nast Portfolio shows the gap between the compensation recieved by top US CEOs and the compensation of the average worker. The gap in 1970 is 28 times. By 2005, it has grown to 465 times.
It suggests that one of the tools being used by the elite is to control the wages of workers, thereby controlling the costs of doing business. The workers have been reduced to being part of the calculus, while the CEOs are exempt, free to reap the wealth rewards of their jobs in a way that is disconnected (or at least insulated) from the performance of their companies.
http://www.portfolio.com/interactive-features/2007/06/salary_comparison