Causes Of Economic Inequality

A cause of income inequality could be the jobs that people have. “In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly… (Income Inequality, para 1).” There have been no signs of income inequality changing for the lower classes, or getting better, therefore, it has become a very concerned issue upon Americans. “America’s top ten percent now average at least nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent (Income Inequality, para 2).” Many people who have a big dream have jobs that pay minimum wage, which makes it hard. With the rich getting richer, it makes it hard for the lower classes to get a shot at being at the top with them. This also makes it hard to close the gap between the three classes.

In the United States, high standard of living is not equally shared with in the Americans. The 1970s and 1990s was period where economic inequality began to grow. Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at UC Berkeley has been doing a research for the U.S. income inequality. He states that there has been an increase since the 1970s, and has reached levels that have not been seen since 1928. “In 1928, the top 1% of families received 23.9% of all pretax income, while the bottom 90% received 50.7%. But the Depression and World War II dramatically reshaped the nation’s income distribution, by 1944 the top 1%’s share was down to 11.3%, while the bottom 90% were receiving 67.5%, levels that would remain more or less constant for the next three decades. But starting in the mid- to late 1970s, the uppermost percent income share began rising dramatically, while that of the bottom 90% started to fall.”(DeSilver) Ever since then, economic inequality continues to increase, especially in the last three decades.

Wealth inequality in the United States has grown tremendously since 1970. The United States continuously reveals higher rates of inequality as a result of perpetual support for free market capitalism. The high rates of wealth inequality cause the growing financial crisis to persist, lower socio-economic mobility, increase national poverty, and have adverse effects on health and well being.

Inequality is not favorable in society. There is inequality in many aspects of our society, such as race, and gender. The main inequality we look at is income inequality in the United States. The one percent of the population control a vast majority of the United States currency. The Gini coefficient has been increasing ever since the Industrial Revolution, a period where education, manufacturing, and economics has shown growth. However, income inequality has increased in the Industrial Revolution. There are many events, and causes that have led to the rise of income equality in the United States.

Are cheap foreign labor, outsourcing of American jobs, and unfair currency trades to blame for income equality? It is very difficult for United States based companies to compete with the cheap labor overseas. The companies would outsource their business to make a profit then to pay their employees whatever the minimum wage it in their area in America. It would be beneficial to our economy if the companies would keep the work in America and pay American citizens. It has been estimated that in 2000, factory jobs decreased by 20% (Amadeo, 2017, p1). The outsourcing of American jobs due to the availability of cheap labor overseas is one of the many reasons there is income inequality. Lowering export cost to have an unfair competitive advantage ultimately compromising the value of our money. This tactic definitely causes income inequality. Possibly the decrease in the dollar value of the United States’ minimum wage and limited job opportunities for people contributes to the income inequality dilemma. In addition, it is very hard for Americans to find employment. America is the richest

In recent years, a growing gap between the wealthy and the middle class has grown, as the wealth of the world has increased significantly, yet only a minority of individuals get to enjoy it. Income inequality has been proven to be detrimental to not only the economy, but to the overall well-being of a nation as it leads to societal upset and can potentially prompt a decline in progression as a nation. Over time, income inequality has led to negative results in the United States, as well as many other nations including Greece. Consequently, the solution to prevent income inequality from deteriorating a nation and prevent economic upset is to ultimately tax those who are wealthier at a higher rate and put said money towards education and healthcare

The highest earning fifth of U.S. families earned 59.1% of all income, while the richest earned 88.9% of all wealth. A big gap between the rich and poor is often associated with low social mobility, which contradicts the American ideal of equal opportunity. Levels of income inequality are higher than they have been in almost a century, the top one percent has a share of the national income of over 20 percent (Wilhelm). There are a variety of factors that influence income inequality, a few of which will be discussed in this paper. Rising income inequality is caused by differences in life expectancy, rapidly increases in the incomes of the top 5 percent, social trends, and shifts in the global economy.

Income inequality is the defining issue in this country today; income inequality is an economic danger in the United States, increasing and becoming permanent, reducing social mobility in the U.S. The income and gap between the wealthy is produced by the number one reason for the low and slow economy. Corporations and the top 1 % are hurting the economy and do not seem to comprehend that the flow of wealth is what gives them the chance to make more. Corporations should be hiring more to get more into the flow so that the economy can come back to

Income inequality in the United States has risen significantly. Today, Income inequality is at its’ widest point since the 1970s (CSNBC). Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population (website).

Inequality has torn down all respect that people have for each other socially in the United States. In the recent video we watched in class, Robert Reich addressed the current issues revolving around inequality in the U.S. and inequality will forever exist. Even though citizens are aware of inequality, the biggest factor pertaining to it is the subject of money. Inequality is a true problem when money and taxes are involved. For example, the documentary we watched exhibits scenes that display hints of unjust. There is a scene that describes the problem people having too much power and wealth, and the wealthy citizens are taxed substantially less than the working, and middle class. For instance, Mitt Romney was taxed somewhere around 13 percent,

Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The

The economic inequality and the politics in America are related. In1970’s, typical male workers earn about 50,000 dollars during typical 1% of male earn about 400,000 dollars. As the time goes in 2010, a male worker earns lesser money than they have earned back then but the typical 1% male earned twice as they have earned before. It is an economic inequality which the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. As people earn less, the lesser product will be sold, and then the companies will downsize, then the tax revenues decrease, then the government cuts programs. Moreover, people will have lesser education, then unemployment will rise. If the economic inequality keep continues the political will fail. I think it is the problem that not all

A major social problem in America today is its inequality of the distribution of income. "Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor. The United States has the most unequal income distribution in the industrialized world, and it is growing at a faster rate than any other industrialized country" (Eitzen & Leedham, pg. 37). The main reason as to why income is distributed so unequally is because of the gap between social classes.

Some sources of income equality rising come from factors such wage imbalance, capital ownership, government taxes, and unequal education. Wage imbalance between skill workers and unskilled has widen more rapidly in recent decades as manufacturers moves their plants overseas and technological advancement continue to evolve leaving the average worker who can acquire new skills behind to low wage labor. As stated by DiEugenio (2014) that the increase in capital gain by the wealthy has also increase significantly causing further widen of wealth between the average worker. Also government policy started in Reagan era on deregulation and progressive tax systems has helped the widening of the income equality as the wealthy is able to find loophole

To end income inequality and also to make public administration more efficient, the following should be done by all concerned stakeholders. First, the policies adopted by the government should focus on the creation of opportunities for the low income population. For a long time the policies have been perceived to be favoring mostly the top income class. In order to achieve this, the starting point can be something like assisting with making education and training more affordable. Education is a major equalizing factor, and a gate to the middle class for most of the population living in poverty. Also, the burden of loans can be reduced to manageable levels; perhaps reducing interest rates. At the same time, the government can assist with helping students in acquiring the necessary skills right from the elementary and secondary schools.