Transcript of Discussion with Joseph E. Stiglitz:
Coryat: Thank you so much again for responding so quickly to my messages. I would like to start by asking you a few question on the growing inequality associated from minimum wage. Originally, my argument was centered on the dependency food stamps create. Getting guidance from my teacher I was able to realize that the government encourages inadequacy though for the most part it aims at helping the people. Would we benefit from increasing minimum wage?
Stiglitz: Minimum wage is an important function of government sustainability. Overall we can assume that by increasing wages that our industry would grow mimicking the price of utilities. It would encourage greater saving in order to build assets to move a family up the economic ladder which becomes a near impossible challenge for many who fear that their job can be quickly given to another more desperate person. The top 1% gets about 20 to 25% of the national income. This was twice what it was at the beginning of the Reagan administration. The top 1/10 of 1% is getting 30 to 40%. The top 1/3% gets over a third of all of the wealth. Even more disturbing is that America is no longer the land of opportunity. The ratio of Horaio Alger has been part of Americans conception the fact of the matter is that today America has become the country with the most inequality. The life chances are more depended on his income and education of his parent then on any other countries. Level of inequality is greater than in other countries. One of the main messages is that the same market forces are the same in other advances countries. We live in a globalized economy. The outcomes are very different than they are here than there.
Coryat: How do we explai...
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...ed around World War II?
Stiglitz: That’s a hard question. Let’s end on a high note. There have been other periods in our history when there have been comparable levels of inequality the Gilded Age, the Roaring 20s; each of those instances we looked at where our democracy was going and we pulled back from the brink. My hope is that as people will understand the depths to which inequality has increased. We are paying a higher price for inequality. I have hoped that if the people have unity they can get rid of the divides which have marked our economy in recent years. Hopefully I have aided you in understanding our economic system. I’m glad I could answer some of your questions, and I apologize that I must go, have a good evening.
Coryat: Thank you for your time; you have been a vital asset in helping me understand my term paper topic. Have a good evening Mr. Stiglitz.
Poverty continues to grow in America. The average minimum wage in the United States is $7.35 an hour- far too low in today’s society. Key expenses, for example, gas and housing prices, have gone up significantly since the minimum wage was last changed in 2007 (Wagner 52). The laws creating the minimum wage were intended to improve the standard of living and decrease poverty. Raising minimum wage is a vital step in decreasing poverty and giving every family the opportunity to survive and succeed. Millions of hard-working Americans are below the poverty line and need an increase in pay. Minimum wage must be raised because it will diminish poverty and assist the working class to support their families.
Briefly state the main idea of this article: The main idea of this article is that economic inequality has steadily risen in the United States between the richest people and the poorest people. And this inequality affects the people in more ways than buying power; it also affects education, life expectancy, living conditions and possibly happiness. Another idea that he brought up was that the American government tends to give less help to the unemployed than other rich countries.
The minimum wage was, as it should be, a living wage, for working men and women ... who are attempting to provide for their families, feed and clothe their children, heat their homes, [and] pay their mortgages. The cost-of-living inflation adjustment since 1981 would put the minimum wage at $4.79 today, instead of the $4.25 it will reach on April 1, 1991. That is a measure of how far we have failed the test of fairness to the working poor.” (Burkhauser 1)
Understanding the basic concept of minimum wage is important for every single individual. We all live in this world together, and it is obvious that there is an order. In order to continue our lives and afford our basic needs, we all need to work and gain wealth. As the old adage says ‘‘There ain’t such a thing as a free lunch. ’’
Minimum wage is a topic that has been popping up since the 1980s. From whether we should lower it, or even raise it, but now in the 2000s minimum wage has been the center of attention more than ever. There are two sides to this topic of minimum wage; whether it creates more jobs or does not create jobs. Those who argue that raising minimum wage will create more jobs will have a rebuttal which is that it does not only cause the loss of jobs but that it would make things much worse and vice versa for those arguing raising minimum wage will cause loss of jobs. There will be two authors representing opposite views, Nicholas Johnson supporting minimum wage will not cost jobs with his article “ Evidence Shows Raising Minimum Wage Hasn’t Cost Jobs”
This article was stimulating to me because it related with me on a personal level. I have been discriminated upon many times in my life and this article excellently explained how white privilege plays a role in determining which groups are in the high or low end of the hierarchy spectrum. In Sklar’s article, Imagine a Country, she explains the growing income inequality between individuals by using several statistics that show the rising wealth gap between the lower, middle, and upper class. Throughout her article, Sklar addresses the controversial topic of high government spending by pointing out that there is an unequal amount of resources that are distributed between large programs such as defense and social programs that help reduce poverty. Her critics have stated that because she is presenting statistical facts as it pertains to income inequality, that she is therefore obligated to include proposals that will address and solve this dilemma. The purpose of this article, contrary to what her critics have criticized her for, is not to present a solution to this
Many people against raising the minimum wage create arguments such as, “it will cause inflation”, or, “ it will result in job loss.” Not only are these arguments terribly untrue, they also cause a sense of panic towards the majority working-class. Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has consistently increased, even when the wage has been
Throughout the decade, a continuous firing debate still remains, whether to raise the minimum wage or keep as it is. People believe that raising the minimum wage can hurt the economy. More will lose jobs than gain. Though all are true, the amount of poverty shown throughout the decades are jaw dropping. That is in fact one of the leading factors. As there is yin and yang, the demand for a higher minimum wage is no coincidence or selfishness as others perceive as is. The poverty shown throughout the decade is deadly prominent. Minimum wage should be raised as people are not gaining enough money compared to the past, despite with more education, too many low quality jobs, “in active” unemployment are outcasted from the statistics, and finding jobs is more difficult than it was decades ago.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour has been extensively debated over the last year or so. Minimum wage is the undermost wage allowed by law to be given to an employee for their services. Introduced in 1939, its purpose was to stabilize the economy, which was healing from the Great Depression. Most importantly, it was designed to protect the health and welling-being of employees. Currently, the Federal Government 's minimum is $7.25 per hour ($14,500 per year). The ones in favor of the increase are saying that it used to be a living wage; however, now it is not and it now needs to be line with changes to the cost of living. In addition, an increase in minimum wage can increase the productivity and decrease income inequality and poverty. On the other spectrum, the ones who are against the increase are saying that the increased labor cost will drive up unemployment, affect small businesses negatively, and cause other workers from different
In the United States there are four social classes : the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class. Of these four classes the most inequality exists between the upper class and the lower class. This inequality can be seen in the incomes that the two classes earn. During the period 1979 through the present , the growth in income has disproportionately grown.The bottom sixty percent of the US population actually saw their real income decrease in 1990 dollars. The next 20% saw medium gains. The top twenty percent saw their income increase 18%. The wealthiest one percent saw their incomes rise drastically over 80%. As reported in the 1997 Center on Budget's analysis , the wealthiest one percent of Americans ( 2.6 million people) received as much after-tax income in 1994 as the bottom 35 percent of the population combined (88 million people). But in 1977 the bottom 35 percent had about twice as much after tax income as the top one percent. These statistics further show the disproportional income growth among the social classes. The gr...
The minimum wage today has a lot of issues; some people say it is not enough to live comfortably. Many agree that there needs to be an increase in minimum wages and by doing that it can help with our issues of poverty. Statistics show that a worker who is full time and earning minimum wage makes only $15,080 a year, which is under the federal poverty line for a family of two. (Gitis, 2013) The problem with that is $15,080 is not a sufficient amount that a person can live and grow on. “A family of two can consist of a mother and son or daughter, father and son or ...
In Confronting Inequality, Paul Krugman discusses the cost of inequality and possible solutions. Krugman argues to say that it is a fantasy to believe the rich live just like the middle class. Then, he goes into detail about how middle class families struggle to try to give their children a better life and how education plays a factor in children’s future lives. For example, children’s ability to move into higher education could be affected by their parents economic status. Also, He discusses how politicians play a role in the inequality, because most of politicians are in the upper economic class. Finally, Krugman says how we could possibly have solutions to these various inequalities, but how America won’t get
Currently, in the United States, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 for the past six years; however, in 1938 when it first became a law, it was only $0.25. In the United States the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since 1938 by a significant amount due to changes in the economy. Minimum wage was created to help America in poverty and consumer power purchasing, but studies have shown that minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty. By increasing the minimum wage, it “will lift some families out of poverty, while other low-skilled workers may lose their jobs, which reduces their income and drops their families into poverty” (Wilson 4). When increasing minimum wage low-skilled, workers living in poor families,
In fact, even educated Americans have begun to give up on the idea of achieving prosperity. For instance, 24 percent of young college graduates define the “American Dream” as “not being in debt” (McClelland 553). To further illustrate the decline of the “American Dream,” McClelland observes that “between 1970 and today, the share of the nation’s income that went to the middle class—households earning two-thirds to double the national median—fell from 62 percent to 35 percent” (551). In addition to the falling levels of middle class income since the 1970s, the minimum wage has also remained stagnant, and very low. Author Paul Krugman goes on to report that despite worker productivity doubling, “for about four decades, increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960s” (Krugman). The days of blue-collar minimum wage workers being able to make a middle-class living have passed.
The Affluent Society was written in 1958. A little information about Professor Galbraith, he was a Harvard economics professor. Served on many US president’s staffs as well as he were great writer. A lot of his theory is based on Keynesian economics. This book, The Affluent Society, is part of a trilogy. The book tackles the status of the US post World War II. It gives great insight into the political, economical as well as pop culture during the time. Each one of those areas is linked together to show the wealth gap that was beginning, that is now a huge problem in our society today. Instead of breaking down the book chapter by chapter, I would like to break down the book into vital areas that make the book what it is. It is extremely interesting how genius Prof. Galbraith is. To be able to research and connect the dots of these extreme and what seems “non relatable” subjects and make them relate in order convey a problem for us to see. Unfortunately, our country did not look at this serious enough. The book also shows a great deal of progress our country made in such little time. In the matter of a decade, the technical, social and political ups and downs of our society started this snowball effect that has now turned into modern day America.