Rich And Poor Book Report

Reaganomics are the economic policies that were set and promoted in 1980s by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan. These policies are mainly connected to trickle-down economics. There are four pillars that are associated with the economic policy of Reagan and they include: reduce government economic regulation, reduce growth of how much the government spends, reduce the marginal tax rates such as capital gains tax and income tax and lastly reduce the level of inflation by controlling money supply growth. These four policies were expected to increase investment and savings, balance the U.S. budget, reduce inflation, increase the economic growth rate, restore healthy financial markets and reduce

Conte & Karr (2001) report the economic growth of the 1980’s in the United States sees President Regan cutting taxes and slashing social programs. President Reagan also

“Money talks” is an expression many form as a simple analogy to the problem associated with wealth today. However, the value of money is not to be taken in vain as money does not always showcase the attributes of knowledge and power. At the same time, those who do possess money do, in some cases, possess the attributes commonly associated with the wealthier class. “Money and Class in America” wrote by Lewis Lapham in 1988, showcases the pessimistic feelings Lapham has towards the American faith in money. Lapham believes that Americans are at a loss to hold the majesty of money at bay. Though I agree with Lapham to a point, I also believe that the assumptions of Americans do apply to a point.

Society likes to think that the world revolves around them, people complain about small events such as, not having situations result as wanted. There are things in this world that will never stop existing; poverty is something that has always been around, for some people it is worse than others.“Flavio’s Home” by Gordon Parks, published 1990 was inspired by his autobiography, voices in the mirror. The essay gives a perfect example of what extreme poverty is like. Even though there are difficult times in life, no matter what, just keep going. “Flavio’s Home” did use ethos as a rhetorical appeal but was mainly focused in using pathos. Those who would most likely relate to this essay are people who have experienced tough situations. What Gordon showed as his main concern or issue throughout the whole story was how poorly cared for flavio and his family were.

Reaganomics—also known as supply-side and trickle-down economics—is an economic policy practiced by presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover in the twenties and most recently, by the fortieth president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Just like the state of the economy before Reagan stepped into office, the economy of the United States today is in a vulnerable place. The economy has taken multiple blows over the last few years: a recession in 2008, a close call in 2011, and an overwhelming deficit. Most Americans are looking for something to change. While some are advocating for an increase in the government’s power in order to step in and seemingly help the people, the way for the government to truly succor

In the essay “Richer and Poorer Accounting for inequality,” by Jill Lepore, published in The New Yorker, March 16, 2015, it elaborates how economic inequality is growing at a fast rate and has been for a long period of time. Jill Lepore also writes that “is greater in the United States that in any other democracy in the developed world” (1). Many Americans know about this issue but have done nothing with the information that is presented, regardless of the disadvantages it causes U.S. citizens. It has been talked about by many politicians, researched by many institutions but has also been done to no ends meet. Jill Lepore effectively uses rhetorical

Reagan revolution has developed over time and it continues to resonate today. Reagan inherited an economy that was ailing and characterized by high unemployment rate, budget deficits, and a small trade surplus. Reagan engaged in major tax cuts and also increased armament-spending factors that contributed to the turnaround of America’s economic situation. This turnaround significantly contributed to the current shape of the economy. However, Reagan’s economic policies of tax cuts, monetarism, retrenchment, and budget deficits have had several negative

Even though Reagan was very confident about his economic plan many others were weary of his ideas. George W. Bush Sr. proclaimed Reagan’s economic ideas as ‘Voodoo’ economics believing Reagan’s policy would not live up to its predicted outcome; ironically enough Bush and his son both adopted these policies during their presidencies. Many important congressmen had many fears in Reagan’s policies, they believed that imposing such tax cuts would raise inflation and cause higher interest rates. The public on the other hand, praised these

Johnson and Democratic liberals believed that economic growth made it possible to fund ambitious new government programs and to improve to quality of life. (Foner pg. 987) III. Reagan in his quest for economic freedom, proposed an economic Bill of Rights that was dubbed Reaganomics. For Reagan, "economic freedom meant curtailing the power of unions, dismantling regulations, and radically reducing taxes.”

Inflation and unemployment numbers rose simultaneously, in contrary to the Keynesian theory that the Nixon administration based their policies upon. Criticism of Keynesianism became louder as the belief of a declining US economy grew and instead, economic liberal theory associated with Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman won popularity. Inevitably this led to a paradigm shift towards laissez-faire economics and the idea that “government intervention necessarily impedes growth and prosperity” (CroG, p. 89). President Jimmy Carter executed the 1978 Revenue act that lowered corporate, capital gains and individual tax. In line with neoliberal ideas, numerous sectors were deregulated. In 1981, Ronald Reagan took office and carried out reforms that built on the legacy of Carter. Comparing the Reagan administration to Carter’s, the former manifested even stronger support for neoliberal ideas (CroG, p. 89). The 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act was inspired of the Laffer curve, a theory that lower tax rates increases government revenues and economic growth as people will increase their productivity when allowed to keep a greater part of their income. Tax levels retained progressive and were in average cut by 30 % (CroG, p. 91). Following the reforms, the U.S economy grew and income levels

America is said to be one of the greatest countries in the world. Advanced technology, thriving agriculture, the so-called land of opportunities all obtainable in our beautiful America. So why then do we still have people going hungry every night? Why does such a disparity exist between a person who has an abundance of food and routinely discards food that is perfectly edible and one who digs for those same scraps in trash bins? At times, these people are living within a few miles of each other.

Reagan’s conservative views influenced his economic decision to cut taxes on the wealthy in an effort to save the falling economy at the time and return the economy back to the prosperous lively American economy admired in the past. “Cutting taxes, Reagan insisted, would stimulate economic growth much more effectively than the traditional liberal approach of increasing government spending.” Although it did take time for Reagan’s tax plan to begin to take effect, it did in fact impact stimulate the economy. Once the wealthy were able to hold onto their money they began to invest more into the economy. The influx in jobs allowed for the nations economy to start to move back to normalcy and become prosperous again. The “Trickle Down Effect” was the main reason for the rapid turnaround in the economy. “In a successful attempt to lower the unemployment rate Reagan loosened grips on the business in the county in order to stimulate growth. It worked and led to a significant decrease in the unemployment rate of the country.” (S Robert Teitelman) Reagan’s move to loosen grips on the large businesses was part of the “Trickle Down Scheme” in hope to ease the panicked citizens who feared that the diminishing economy meant doom for the nation. Through cutting taxes on the powerful corporations the money they were saving would be put right back into the economy allowing the flow of wealth to “trickle down” to the average citizen not just the extremely rich. Once the plan was implemented and the economy took a turn for the good the nation was relieved and the country took another step towards normalcy. Reagan also attempted to help the nations failing economy by cutting spending on internal government run programs. The

The Princeton academic Larry M. Bartels provides an interesting challenge to conventional wisdom, providing a political explanation for an economic problem greatly effecting the entirety of the United States. In his book, Unequal Democracy, Bartels unveils the strong relationship between politics and economics, identifying political policies to be a key element in the inequality issue among Americans. The non-partisan political scientist emphasizes the notable differences that Republican and Democratic policies have on middle and low income families in America. Bartels establishes that Democratic policies have improved economic growth and reduced income inequality between the classes while Republican policies have produced economic contractions

In the article Rich and Poor, Peter Singer sees extreme poverty as “not having enough income to meet the most basic human needs for adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, sanitation, health care or education” (pg. 234). Singer does not fail to compare those in extreme poverty to people who are living in absolute affluence. He suggests that it is the responsibility of those living in affluence to help those who are in need of obtaining even the basic human needs. He also argues that the affluent not helping is the moral equivalency of murder. Singer realizes that even though the rich can give to the poor these resources that they need, the rich do not feel enough of a moral mandate to do so. I disagree a bit with Singer because he seems to suggest that everyone who has the basic necessities is morally obligated to give but, I believe that this idea of a moral mandate to give should only apply to the extremely wealthy. Like Singer’s first premises says “If we can prevent something bad without sacrificing anything of comparable significance, we ought to do it.” (243) If the absolute affluent have large amounts of money, they can help to at least make people live comfortably without losing anything of great significance. The increasing poverty rates, not just in America but, globally cannot be solved if the extremely wealthy continue to do wasteful spending and choose to not put their money more towards programs and charities that better the lives of the people in their

Poverty in Britain When the Liberal government came to power in 1906 they had no stated intention of government intervention of social policy. Between the years 1906 and 1914, the Liberals took steps to improve the health, living and working conditions of the groups of individuals their policies were designed for. The victory for the Liberals was a surprising landslide which left the Liberals with 401 seats and Labour with 53 seats.