Economics of Reich “Why the Rich are getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” written by Robert Reich, describes as the title says, why the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer. In Reich’s essay he delves into numerous reasons and gives examples of each. It makes one wonder if the world will continue on the path of complete economic separation between the rich and the poor. One very important factor Reich examines in his essay is that large corporations are always trying to find the edge, whether that is new technology or cheaper wages. One may ask how does that affect me? Large corporations seeking the extra dollar to pocket as are willing to spend whatever it takes to reduce the cost of production and increase profit margins. Doing whatever it takes in some instances can men moving operations overseas to developing countries who are glad to be working. These developing countries unemployment rates are extremely high, so any job that pays is great to have. Americans lose jobs to foreign workers because the American The baby boom generation, as described by Reich, will live longer than past generations due to the improvements in health sustaining drugs (Jacobus). This will create more opportunities in health care, but this baby boom generation will have mostly used all their money by that point in their lives. They will have to rely on social security. This generation will need others to help pay for their medical care which will fall upon the family members. This will result in more jobs for younger adults, but also more things to pay for. In-person services income mainly relies on whom they serve. Reich gives an example in his essay describing how a waitress in a small town may not make as much as a waitress surrounded by moguls and superstars. The income is based on the local economy and the perception of
There has always been a wealth gap between the richest and poorest in society. However, in the past decade, the wealth gap between the richest and poorest citizens in the US has been growing rapidly. In the 70s and 80s, the wealth and income growth rate for both poor and rich people were similar, however, between the years 2009 and 2012 the top 1% income increased 31% while for the bottom 20%, their income actually dropped and for the vast majority of Americans, the average yearly income only increased by 0.4% [4]. The question is, is wealth gap bad? Is a growing or extreme wealth gap unhealthy for the economy and social stability or is it a necessary part of it.
The rapid development of global economy with the opening of new markets worldwide gave way to the development of new means of production and also to the change of ideologies across the world. Alongside with that, the division between different groups or classes within societies became more apparent as some people got richer and other poorer. These two phenomena, the worldwide development of industries and consequent class struggles, have been analyzed by two major thinkers of their times, Karl Marx and Robert Reich. Their essays have been influential and are similar in sense that they analyze existing conditions of societies and give projections on future fates of people, or more specifically, fates of classes. In this paper, the main focus will be on the fate of the wealthiest people; these are the bourgeois for Marx and symbolic analysts for Reich. More specifically, it will be argued that the rich people will be in the worst position according to Marx and this position will cover two aspects: material aspect, which is how well the rich will eventually manage their properties, and the inherent antagonism of classes and its consequences for the wealthy.
Why are so a large number of people that beg for money, sitting on the streets, looking for food 's some sort? It is not day-to-day that we consider situations like this, but it is out there constantly without all of us realizing it. A number of states have poverty 's more issues than others, but it is sad to think about how plenty of people are actually considered to be in poverty. This is an inequality concerning me a lot, and is getting worse daily. Poverty in the United States relates to people whose annual household earnings are less than a poverty line set by the United States government. Poverty is common, resulted in by numerous different factors such as failing markets, structural problems, unfortunate mishaps, and poor individual
The United States is the most developed capitalist economy in the world. The markets within the economy provide profit-motivated companies endless potential in the pursuance of pecuniary accumulation. Throughout the twentieth-century competitive companies have implemented modernized managerial procedures designed to raise profits by reducing unnecessary costs. These cost-saving procedures have had a substantial effect on society and particularly members of the working class. Managers and owners of these competitive and self-motivated companies have consistently worked throughout this century to exploit the most controllable component of the production process: the worker. The worker has been forced by the influence of powerful and affluent business owners to work in conditions hazardous to their well being in addition to preposterously menial compensation. It was the masterful manipulation of society and legislation through strategic objectives that the low-wage workers were coerced into this position of destitute. The strategies of the affluent fragment of society were conceived for the selfish purpose of monetary gain. The campaigns to augment the business position within the capitalist economy were designed to weaken organized labor, reduce corporate costs, gain legislative control and reduce international competition at the expense of the working class. The owners have gained and continue to gain considerable wealth from these strategies. To understand why the owners of the powerful companies operate in such a selfish manner, we must look at particular fundamentals of both capitalism and corporation strategy. Once these rudiments are understood, we ...
Being in America, a society encompassed by those of a wealthy nature versus those striving to obtain as much wealth as they can in their own limitations, it seems inevitable for one to pass judgment on those who choose the glamorous lifestyle over any morals they may have had prior to their riches. After reading Money and Class in America, it can be concluded that Mr. Lewis Lapham makes an intriguing point as he states that it is seemingly unintelligent to assume that one that is wealthy in pocket is also wealthy in intelligence. Everyday, greed filled Americans prove this judgment to be blatantly wrong, as they partake in the extravagant lifestyle without much thought in the immorality that comes with the lifestyle. Though some may say that
With a country as wealthy and powerful as the United States, according to Pam Fessler, who is a writer for npr.org, almost fifty million American live in the conditions of poverty. With most of these fifty million Americans, they are trapped in poverty due to lack of access to higher education, unable to obtain necessities, or unable to obtain aid from the government.
Reich, Robert B. “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer.” A World of Ideas:
...ment, income inequality will exist due to the rise of some economically successful people and the further development of factors that push people into poverty. Although it may not seem fair that there are rich people blowing money on impractical and meaningless things while people live in poverty, it’s a reality that the United States has experienced for centuries.
With each class comes a certain level in financial standing, the lower class having the lowest income and the upper class having the highest income. According to Mantsios’ “Class in America” the wealthiest one percent of the American population hold thirty-four percent of the total national wealth and while this is going on nearly thirty-seven million Americans across the nation live in unrelenting poverty (Mantsios 284-6). There is a clear difference in the way that these two groups of people live, one is extreme poverty and the other extremely
Reich, Robert. “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer.” The Work of Nations.
In my words what’s happening in terms of distribution and of income and wealth, income is better than it use to be and there are a few wealthy people in this world. Cause of the way that jobs have affected our economy and the money some people take the rich people get richer and the middle class struggle to stay alive and the poor stay poor and never improve. It is a big problem because that is the reason our economy is the way it is right now and the reason for all the poverty etc.
The poor gets poorer, and the rich gets richer. Economically speaking, this is the truth about Capitalism. Numerous people agree that this inequality shows the greedy nature of humankind. The author of the source displays a capitalist perspective that encompasses an individualist approach towards an “un-ideal” economic system. The source articulates a prominent idea that capitalism is far from perfect. The reality is, as long as capitalism exists, there are always those people who are too poor or too rich in the system. We do not need elitists in our society but that is exactly what capitalists are. In this society, people are in clash with those who “have” and those who “have not”, which creates conflict and competition. Throughout
Managerial Economist awareness of consequences of Wealth Inequality across different states in U.S., across Canada, and across World
Wealth inequality is the uneven distribution of resources in a given state or population, which can also be called the wealth gap. The sum of one’s total assets excluding the liabilities equates the person’s wealth also known as the net worth. Investments, residents, cash, real estates and everything owned by an individual are their assets.In reality, the United States is among the richest countries in the world, though a few people creating a major gap between the richest, the middle class and the poor control most of its wealth. For more than a quarter of a century, only the rich American families have shown an increase to their net worth.Thisis a worrying fact for the less fortunate in the country and calls for assessment (Baranoff, 2015).
Wealth inequality is the gap that exists between rich people and poor people because the inequality of assets that people own in America. Wealth inequality will always exist in the society. Wealth means what a person owns like land, properties, and money without considering the debts. Some societies have a bigger gap of wealth than others. Maybe sometime in the paleolithic era there was not wealth inequality, because they had a nomad style of live and they only hunted and recollected their food. In this period of time, the concept of private property did not exist and everybody share the goods. Since the beginning of human civilization wealth inequality exist; kings were the owners of everything while the slaves did not own anything. With the past of the years the gap between the wealthy people and the poor people suffered changes like the great depression of 1930 and the last recession of 2007. The wealthy gap will always exist; however, the ideal gap must be as fair as possible.