Critical Analysis Of Robert Reich's Inequality For All

(An Analysis of Why The Rich Are Getting Richer And the Poor, Poorer, by Robert B. Reich)

There are several essential differences in Reich’s and Murray’s points of view. According to Reich, problems in our societies are caused by poor structures. He argues that increasing of wealth in the society works against the middle class since it forces them to be poor. He talks of keeping a tier of classes which includes the middle and rich class of which if not the middle class will not be able to sustain the economy. Reich describes the great depression of 1929 and explains that the major cause was due to the disparity

In 1978, the economy started suffering in the US, because the middle class was getting weaker, and inequality started increasing. According to Reich, the middle class is directly associated with the economy, because 70 percent of the economy is summoned up of consumer spending. The middle class is the foundation of consumer spending. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, wages

In ”Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” Robert Reich talks about the growing gap of higher class and the lower class of today’s society. He states that the rich are getting richer because they are the ones trying to take over the lower paying jobs.Along with that, the poor are getting poorer because of many losing their jobs due to competition with other countries because they are willing to work for less money. With today’s society it is common to replace low paying jobs with machines that end up cheaper and more efficient. Reich uses a metaphor to describe how the economy is doing for the rich and poor. This essay is informational and mature. In choosing this topic, Reich was reaching out to the older audiences by using

The documentary film, “Inequality for All”, addresses the overall problems of income inequality within America. The documentary follows a former Labor secretary and all around American political economists, Robert Reich. Throughout the film Reich focusses on problems that many people already know about: the struggle that the middle class is facing, how the top 1% of society within America has seen a dramatic increase in income for themselves, education costs rising. His overall goal is to try and figure out what exactly Americas problem is within income inequality and how it can be fixed.

Watching the documentary Inequality for all by Robert Reich has really opened my eyes on how Economic fairness is becoming “the defining issue of our time”. The United States may be the richest country, but “out of all the developed nations today the United

In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within

In the documentary film "Inequality for All" Robert Reich (2013) clearly explains how this massive inequality in the distribution of wealth occurred and how it will affect the workers of his country. When the salaries become lower, a worker has to take on more debt. As college costs skyrocket, so there are few people to go to public universities, which ones are and should be free. The economy is not the only thing growing and the wealth gap, the richer are getting richer. At the same time, the economy will affect the political, damaging the rights of citizens and undermining democracy. More disappointing are Reich's lack of possible solutions and ways to turn this around. Finally, he hopes some of people are going to change the community.

Robert Reich explained to us, "Income inequality is inevitable and is essence of capitalism, but when the gap became too much, then it became a problem to the society. Today, the United States has the most inequality distribution of income of all the developed nation, the richest 400 Americans had more wealth than the bottom 150 million people put together"2. First of all, income inequality exist everywhere, it is not a problem for itself. Because of the income inequality, poor people know the life difference between people, then they will work harder and harder to catch up to get rid of poor, and to have a better life. The income inequality is a good thing when it is not much for is the source of power that make people to improve themselves.

“The United States of America is not a third world country. . .except perhaps income inequality where we rank worse than the Ivory Coast, worse than Cameroon” (Inequality for All). A clip of Jon Stewart and his satire was featured during the opening minutes of the documentary Inequality for All. Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration, is the centerpiece of the film, describing and explaining the growing income inequality in the United States and the effect it has on the economy. The peak years in high income concentration in the top one percent were 1928 and 2007; horrible economic collapses followed in the years 1929 and 2008 (Inequality for All). The power and control of the most wealthy, affluent people in the United States has skyrocketed during the past few decades, creating speculation of what caused the 2008 recession. The highly concentrated wealth in the United States is leading to a few people owning most of the United States, a decrease in political power among the middle and lower classes, and low money circulation that is negatively affecting the economy.

Between 1945 and 1970 the GDP measured in consistent dollar amounts just about doubled. The raise of economic prosperity would continue to raise the income of most. The result? A generation that had experienced the deprivation of the 1930’s and rationing of wartime would find themselves’

Although the United States is considered one of the best countries in the world, we still have many issues. One of the biggest ones being income inequality. In the United States, economic prosperity is not in reach for everyone. In the movie Inequality For All Robert Reich talks about how big of an issue income inequality is and the opportunities available to the average American.

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,

Historically, there have been many instances where the incomes of individuals have fluctuated and caused great changes to the nation, especially post World War II period until the present day. The income share of the wealthiest 1% of Americans was the same in 2006 as it was in 1917 (Jansson, 2012, p.45). The years from the end of World War II into the 1970s were ones of substantial economic growth. In summary, the period from post-World War II until about the late 1960’s, income inequality was not as great as it is today and was more steady, but it still existed and greatly influenced the income inequality in present day America.

In the movie Inequality for All, Robert Reich stated, “you don't necessarily need to be elected president of the United States or be a secretary of labor to have a huge impact. You can be a leader” (Kornbluth, n.d.). For me, this piece of advice was very inspiring. This statement alone is very important to me, as it is something I will continue to use as I journey into my career and life itself. It’s important for people to understand the impact that a single act can have as something so small to one person can make a world of difference to another. Being a leader is so much more then "a title" that one carries. Also, the statement “…I do believe absolutely that most of the return that's being created isn't creating any kind of social utility