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Social Inequality in the US
America’s income and wealth inequalities
Social Inequality in the US
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The disparity between the top income earners in the United States and everyone else is ridiculous. The rich continue to see huge increases in their income while everyone else’s rarely moves. Who is to blame for such a huge income disparity are Republicans, Democrats, neither, or maybe both? However, traditionally right wing republicans have favored reducing income taxes and corporate taxes for the top earners in the U.S. Republicans argue that Bush-era tax cuts on top earnings should be extended to stimulate the economy, while many Democrats back extensions only for lower earners(Marcia Clemmitt, 2010, para 1). While on the left side Democrats generally believe that more government spending can help bridge the gap between the rich and everyone else, Republicans generally don’t. In this report, I attempt how income inequality is affecting people and what can be done about it. Republicans views on income distribution in the economy are perhaps changing Barry Ritholtz (2014) from economonitor reports, “Two out of three Americans are dissatisfied with the way income and wealth is currently distributed in the U.S. This includes three-fourths of Democrats and 54% of Republicans” (para 4). It seems that the majority of Republicans have come to realization that income inequality is unstable and terrible for the United States economy. According to Ritholtz the top five reasons are “one it drags down the economy, two inequality increases the nation’s debt, three inequality leads to social unrest and violence, four cause of our soaring inequality is bailouts for the big banks and socialism, and five big banks are manipulating every market, and committing massive crimes.” The vast majority of citizens would agree that economic growth is vit... ... middle of paper ... ....d.).Pew Research Center for the People and the Press RSS. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.people-press.org/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-partisans-differ-over-solutions/ Ritholtz, B. (2014, January 28). EconoMonitor : EconoMonitor » 54% of Republicans Say We've Got Too Much Inequality. EconoMonitor RSS 092. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2014/01/54-of-republicans-say-weve-got-too-much-inequality/ Scheartz, N. (2014, February 2). The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World.. The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/business/the-middle-class-is-steadily-eroding-just-ask-the-business-world.html?_r=0 The Economic Policy Institute. (n.d.).Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/
Rugaber, Chistropher S., and Josh Boak. "Excite News - Wealth Gap: A Guide to What It Is, Why It Matters." Excite News - Wealth Gap: A Guide to What It Is, Why It Matters. Associated Press, 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Stone, Chad, Danilo Trisi, Arloc Sherman, and William Chen. "Center on Budget and Policy Priorities." A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. .
Throughout the years, “ U.S income inequality has been increasing steadily since the 1970s and now has reached levels not seen since 1928” (Source A).
Taking Sides Summary-Analysis Form. Title and Author of Article: Christopher Jencks. 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.
Desilver, Drew. “U.S. Income inequality, On Rise for Decades, Is Now Highest Since 1928.” Pew Research Center RSS. N.p. 30 Dec. 2010.Web. 30Apr. 2014.
There are many people that think there is economic and wealth equality in the United States , but with all the statistics I provided it can be clearly seen that inequality in America is a serious issue , and it's getting worse with every year. I do believe that there should be some income inequality because that drives people to succeed , but I also believe that too much inequality limits a lot of people from achieving financial success.
Krugman points out some alarming statistics in his New York Times article A report on inequality from the Congressional Budget Office
Income inequality in the United States has increased and decreased throughout history, but in the recent years, the widening gap has become a serious issue. Income inequality is usually measured by Gini coefficient. According to this method coefficient varies between 0 and 100; while 0 represents complete equality (income is distributed equally among all the population of the country), 100 represents complete inequality (only one person receives all the country’s income, while the rest of the population receives nothing). According to the Census of Bureau, the official Gini coefficient in the U.S. was 46.9 in 2010. This is way higher than the all-time low coefficient of 38.6 set in 1968 (qtd. in Babones).
Income inequality in the United States, as of 2007, has reached levels not seen since 1928. In 1928, the top one percent received nearly 24% of all income within the United States (Volscho & Kelly, 2012). This percentage fell to nearly nine percent in 1975, but has risen to 23.5% as of 2007 (Volscho & Kelly, 2012). Meanwhile, in 2007 (see
“A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality.” cbpp.org. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2013. Web. 06 April. 2014. .
Reich, Robert. "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer." Mountain View College Reader. Neuleib, Janice. Cain S., Kathleen. Ruffus, Stephen. Boston: 501 Boylston Street, Suite 900. 2013 Print.
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
Sutter, John. “What is income inequality, anyway?” CNN. 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
If I had to describe a moment from INEQUALITY FOR ALL that is really sticking with you – maybe you found it particularly inspiring or particularly troubling it would be the statement made by Robert Reich, “Of all developed nations the U.S. has the most unequal distribution of income.” What was it about that moment that is so memorable? He also states, “the richest 400 people in America have more wealth then the bottom 50 million of us put together.”
Azerrad, David and Rea S. Hederman, Jr. Defending the Dream: Why Income Inequality Doesn’t Threaten Opportunity, 2014. Web. .