French social philosopher, Alex de Tocqueville (1805-1889), once said, “However energetically society in general may strive to make all citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will always make him try to escape from the common level, and he will form some inequality somewhere to his own profit.” Through the ages, income inequality has caused class conflict, created political systems (communism), and has simultaneously promoted vast increases in wealth and technological advances. The purpose of this paper is to research and examine the benefits and detriments, or pros and cons, of income inequality and to then render my opinion regarding my findings. Because income inequality is vast in nature, this paper will …show more content…
According to Gary Becker, the labor market is placing a greater emphasis on education and dispensing rapidly rising rewards to those who stay in school the longest. Numerous studies have shown that the greater the education, the greater the medium income (Bureau of Labor). People who want to earn more money have the incentive to pursue a higher level of education. Between 1915 and 1950, the demand for education was lower because there were fewer high paying jobs. It was not until 1950 that number of people who returned to college rose, and after 1980 this number skyrocketed (Cowen). The new increase in returning college students called for an increase in supply and demand. As the demand for an education level beyond high school increased, so did the amount of high paying jobs. However, some individuals such as Charles Murray, co author of “The Bell Curve,” argue that only a certain amount of citizens are educable at a high level and it is these people who receive the benefits of a seventy percent income increase. This trend of pursuing higher education to receive higher income has significantly risen as well as contributed to the growth in overall earnings of Americans (Bureau of Labor). Unequal income is beneficial for American society because it rewards the better educated with a more satisfying income, making for a more productive society, ultimately raising the overall
David Leonhardt, the author of “Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say,” makes the controversial argument that even with college debt increasing substantially in the United States it is still worth earning a degree. Leonhardt uses a variety of relevant figures and statistics to support his claim of the irreplaceable value of a college education. The majority of statistics used by Leonhardt concern the earnings advantage of college graduates as compared to their counterparts who decided not to attend college. Among the first issues Leonhardt addresses is the growing concerns prospective students and their parents have with attending college such as underemployment after graduation, debt, and unemployment (Leonhardt 33). To refute these arguments, he cites statistics from the Labor Department concerning inequality of income distribution; these statistics were
The topic of “Are Too Many People Going to College?” was presented by Charles Murray, the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise. In today’s world college is a must due to many employers seeking educated individuals. Murray develops an interesting conversation by demonstrating that many high school graduates who are seeking to go to college do not need a degree depending on their career paths. Murray provides the analogy of a high school graduate who is looking to become an electrician but is not sure if college is the most logical decision. Murray acknowledges the fact that a B.A. does not necessarily led to a higher income than one with a degree. The logical argument of money is brought to attention and is stated “the income for the top people in a wide variety of occupations that do not require a college degree is higher than the average income for many occupations that require a B.A.” (Murray 247). Although this is his main point, he understand that it varies due to the occupation one is leaning towards. There has been individuals without a college degree that are making millions of dollars, but it varies. Murray claims that getting a B.A. is going to be the wrong economic decision for many high school graduates (Murray 246); however not everyone wants to be an electrician or any other hand held jobs that doesn’t necessarily need a degree, but if one wants to be a lawyer, doctor, or anything require a degree, college is the answer. Having a degree in a
Recent high school students are debating whether to or not attend college, should consider the benefits of attaining a college degree. For many low or middle income students, this a route to gain opportunities to improve their economic circumstances. An article, “Pathways to Prosperity,” states in 2008, workers with bachelor's degree make about 65 percent higher than high school graduates and workers with associate's degree make about 73 percent more than high school dropouts.. This is evidence obtaining a college degree can be an opportunity to have earnings higher and significantly increase one's income.
In today’s capitalist economy, where economic transactions and business in general is centered on self-interest, there is a natural tendency for some people to make more than others. That is the basis for the “American Dream,” where people, if they worked hard, could make money proportional to their effort. However, what happens when this natural occurrence grows disproportional in its allocation of wealth within a society? The resulting issue becomes income inequality. Where a small portion of the population, own the majority of the wealth and the majority of the population own only a fraction of what the rich own. This prominent issue has always been the subject of social tension
There are different opinions towards inequality, some people are accepting of it while others dislike the whole idea of inequality. Is it okay to let the wealthy have more control than the poor? Should their ideas matter more than the non-wealthy? And most importantly should the poor be okay with this, if not what must they do? In “Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie and “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, both Carnegie and Marx expose their thoughts behind inequality and its traits. They both focus and touch upon the poor (proletarians) and the rich (bourgeoisie). They bring up the pros and cons about inequality, capitalism, and communism. Inequality was in Carnegie 's view. In his opinion progress required the processes of competition. Making capitalism an engine of progress. Carnegie believed that there is good to inequality while Marx begs to differ. Marx had his own view on capitalism, he believed that it would eventually result disastrous. Marx believed communism was the best solution to keep both the proletarians and bourgeoisie in an equal place. Both of these socialists have much to say about capitalism and communism and also for economic inequality. They both share different points of view, neither wrong or right. Their opinions are based towards their life experiences and this essay will be noting the differences between they share on inequality, the means of production, and capitalism.
If there were more college graduates than the economy needed, the pay gap would shrink." He talks about how the gaps growth in recent years is due in part to the large number of people who went back to school during the Great Recession, and goes on to say "That the pay gap has nonetheless continued to growing means we are nt producing enough of them (college graduates). " Leonhardt also discusses how nothing, not even a 4 year college degre can gauerentee success, considering the past 15 years of disappointing economic growth ad rising inequality. But, that doesnt take away the value of a 4-year college degree. Leonhardt brings up the fact that many of the experts and journalists saying that college is not worth it may end up discouraging teenagers and adults from going to school to earn degrees.
In Stephanie Owen’s and Isabel Sawhill’s article “Should Everyone Go to College” the return on the investment in college is briefly broken down. The article “Should Everyone Go to College” opens up with a widely known claim that a college degree is necessary to enter the middle class. Owen and Sawhill test this claim by comparing the return on an education of general types of degrees and colleges. The article states that on average high school graduates make around $15,000 less a year than graduates with a bachelor’s degree. To further the prove the return on your investment in education the articles states that by the age 50 a person with a bachelor’s degree makes around $46,500 more a year than a high school graduate. This accumulates to
1) It is not just the case that more people are going to college, but that the brighter
In “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, by Charles Murray he introduces the importance of an education to Americans, and how sharing the same basic material and knowledge has come into realization (197). It shows how having a college degree has made people more money, than an individual who just has a high school graduation
A point often overlooked by Owen and Sawhill is the topic of the rate of return on education- how much more earnings those who attended one more year of school received. By comparing identical twins with a difference in education level, records have sown that these earnings are increased by ten percent. They discuss that the “raw difference between high school graduates and associate’s degree holders is about $7,000, but a return of 10% would predict the casual effect of those additional two years to be $6,000” (210). Furthermore, the cost of college is also a vital factor; someone who has to pay a large amount in order to attend their college of choice will end up having a lower net benefit. When a young adult
Income inequality is a controversial topic discussed throughout the world. Many feel strongly that income inequality can hinder Americans or benefit them. Although some believe that income inequality helps Americans, it truly hinders them. Throughout the course of 30 years people have been unsatisfied with their income (Pettinger, 2011). Just about everything that is the result of income inequality can be thought of as a hindrance. Regarding Americans and their money, many various disadvantages can be directly related to income inequality.
Leonhardt says “Americans with four year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” According to the statistics of the past thirty years, he came to the conclusion that if there were more college graduates, the pay gap would shrink. The national income inequality has a lot to do with the American’s education level.
Income Inequality is “The unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy. Income inequality is often presented as the percentage of income to a percentage of population.” (Investopedia). Some believe income equality is the biggest problem of the 21st century, President Obama believes it to be “the defining challenge of our time” (white house). Some economist believe that increase inequality has a correlation effect with higher rates of health problems, social problems, that it harms economic growth, creates higher persistent unemployment and polarizes opportunity. Historically one can make the argument that other advance nations who have collapsed, have had great inequality and economic stratification. Other economist argue that true ‘equality’ is impossible because people have different skills and abilities. Income inequality natural and a benefit because I creates incentive to work harder. It’s important to understand the effects of income inequality on a nation’s society and labor force. What type of problems income inequality could cause or doesn’t cause. This essay will give a comparative study of Income inequality in the United States of America and France, and how it effects labor and economic activity.
Income redistribution refers to the concept of transferring income from the wealthy individuals to the less wealthy individuals through social mechanisms such as monetary policies, charity, welfare, land reforms, and taxation among others. Income redistribution affects the entire economy rather than selected groups of individuals. The concept of income redistribution emanates from the existence of income inequalities within an economy. Income inequality depicts a gap between the highest and the lowest income earners in an economy (Tullock 13). Income inequality is sometimes considered appropriate in societies since it acts as an incentive in free market economies, whereby in the absence of inequality, elements of economic stagnation and lack of enterprise would emerge. Conversely, income inequality is criticized on the basis of introducing contributing towards the development of key problems in the society, including progression of poverty levels. This paper seeks to explore the concept of income redistribution and its key pros and cons.
World is facing its crucial challenge; the gap between the rich and the poor, also known as income inequality. This gap is widening and is abysmal. Although income inequality is beneficial at some certain point because it arouse capital growth and technological innovation, I will show that income inequality harms society for it leads to uneven access to health and education and it stifles economic growth that pose serious barrier to social development.