This fact remains accurate after government attempts at wealth redistribution such as taxes. This shows that the government is not successful at helping to redistribute wealth and the dramatic increases in wealth of the rich while the poor barely improve show the inefficacy of the “trickle-down economy” model. To figure out why the 10% is gaining wealth so quickly, the people that make up this small group must be analyzed. The top 10% is essentially comprised of three main groups: superstars, CEOs, and high-income professionals. However, the incomes of superstars and CEOs are increasing more rapidly than those of the high-income professionals (Belsie). While the incomes of high-income professionals and superstars are market driven, they do not benefit from the same rate that CEOs do.
America has been a melting pot of cultures for many centuries, with the number of immigrants continually rising every year. Most of these immigrants come into the country with nothing at all except for the clothes on their backs and a few English words. But they also bring with them something special – their cultures and traditions from their homeland. In the Immigrant Advantage, readers can see that these specific traditions that they bring with them give them an advantage because they tend to have better mental and physical health than their native born American counterparts (5).
The issue of income inequality in the United States is complicated and does not have a definite answer. Income inequality can be measured in a few different ways. The first measurement for the income inequality in a country is to look at the percentages on households and group them into income categories, called distribution by income category. The second measurement for income inequality is called distribution by quintiles or fifths. This is when you divide the total number of people, households, families into five groups called quintiles to examine the percentage of total before tax income received by each quintile. Each quintile would then be ordered by income and households in the category.
Analyzing Economic Inequality in Hispanic Immigrant Population in the United States by Using Micro/Macro-Level Lenses
Vermont Senator and presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, said it best when he said “A nation will not serve morally or economically when so few have so much, and so many have so little.” This quote perfectly describes the issue that The United States is currently dealing with: income inequality. Income inequality is the gap between how much money is made by the rich and everyone else in the nation. It also refers to the unequal distribution of wealth among people in a population. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States has steadily been rising, making it seem as though economic growth is stable (Inequality for All). However, it does not take into account the increasingly widening gap between the 1% and the 99% of the nation’s population. Government officials should pay closer attention to income inequality in The United States because ignoring the issue ultimately hurts American citizens.
While theories such as “trickle down economics” support the wealthy creating more wealth for the lower income levels there is more evidence elaborating the benefits of living in a country with higher economic equality. When there are higher levels of economic equality countries enjoy more political stability, better health conditions, and a better outlook on the nation and jointly, life. The following graphic and its
Throughout the years, the gap between the poor and the rich has only increased. The wage percentage has decreased, while the productivity percentage has increased. During recent years, the wealthiest of the American population, also known as the top 20%, control over 80% of the American wealth, while the “poorest of the poor” barely control 5% of the wealth. An example of this income gap would be CEO of companies and their
This is a topic that had been lingering in the shadows until the Occupy Wall street movement made many take a good look at the inequalities that exist all across the board. Vidal states that “the outrage of Occupy was directed at the top 1 percent of the population, an elite class consisting mainly of investment bankers, corporate executives, and layers who currently own 35 percent of the total net wealth in the United States.” (Anderson pg 270) Vidal explains that in order for us to fully understand economic inequality we need to take a look at the stagnation of living standards experienced by millions of
The income inequality amount all Americans is growing greater amount of stress on the everyday people. For instance, older populations are living longer which means they require medical attention more often because they’re getting weaker and venerable to the world. The ACA was passed to help all American receive coverage yet, problems like this still happen. Robyn Stone talks about how Medicare would have much benefit if they did communities housing for older families, keeping in mind the idea is that they should be able to live where they want too. Diane Rowland contradicts Stone by imploring her idea that states should close the Medicaid’s gap to give medical help for everyone and their need.
Regions across the United States have been changed dramatically by the immigration trends over time. The region of Southern California is no different. When the people in an area change that areas culture is going to change as well, southern California is a great example of that. Yet while changes in history do not change the physical lay out of the area it does affect the culture tremendously. The culture in Southern California specificly is a mix of multiple people making it extremely diverse depending on the area that you are in.
Economic inequality has been steadily growing over the past decades. According to this article, “In more recent years, accumulation of wealth by economic elites has received greater attention. Not only are the rich becoming richer, but the disparities are growing the fastest at the top. In the United States, for example, growth in wealth has occurred mainly at the very top of the scale.” (Hansen 457). This means that wealth begins to expand and business owners earn more, however pay more but not a lot more then previously. This would be a good thing, but not everyone in America is a business owner. In fact, the majority of citizens slightly benefited from the growing economy. While most view the economy as unequal, the upper class and even U.S representatives consider it fair and justified (Kraus and Callaghan
Due to the long history of inequality, wealth and economic factors have been contributing to the poverty rate in America. Even though, many issues in discrimination also has been an increasing issue in so many areas of ethnicity that politicians should focus upon in order to reduce discrimination and improve the American economy. Diverse groups should also be at the center of attention as diversity has always been at the forefront of the many issues of inequality in America. There should be justice for many of the unnecessary burdens of inequality, and discrimination as many of the economic issues would start to decrease. Politicians should also be focusing on immigration factors as immigrants have struggled to maintain a healthy lifestyle in America for many years. Human service work is a major safeguard for many of the inequality issues because human services has a caring helping hand in many of the inequalities around the world as these issues do not only exist in America. Although, inequality should be addressed on all levels, politicians should create policies to safeguard against discrimination and inequality because many of the economic issues would be decreased and it would create a better environment for the human service worker to help care for many of the different societies.
This article comes from ABC news and was written in the last two weeks. The title of the article is “Why it Matters: Income Inequality” and the concern of the article is how in America the rich keep getting richer and others are left behind in the dust unable to support themselves financially. This concept relates to Chapter One of the text when it was said that “market forces of globalization facilitating exploitation of the most vulnerable members of society on an even larger scale than previously possible.” (*** pg.3) This is one of the key topics that have been debated during the course of this year’s presidential election. The candidates are constantly being asked what they would do about the large income gap that is happening in America and how this huge crisis could be solved. The middle class is seemingly non-existent because of the difficulty
It can be argued that the trend for global inequality is that “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.”
Immigration on Microeconomic Issues and Policies are becoming a more and more sizzling topic. However, mostly because of our new president, and the plans set for immigration as a whole. To understand immigration, it's when someone who migrates from one region to another to seek an improvement in living standards because the living conditions or job opportunities in the immigrant's own region are not good. The concern is that immigrates will come over to the united states and receive free benefits (Health, Social, Welfare, etc.) while not actually contributing. Understanding that the belief of immigration and that it's abusing economy is wrong in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong there are some pro’s and con’s when debating this issue.