Robert Reich's Inequality For All

Reich explains that the top wealthiest 1% has more money than half of the United State’s population combined. Today, the rich make more money than they can spend, which, they invest. When their money is kept from the market, it leads to stagnation. On the other hand, The middle class is paid just enough to meet their daily needs. To add, Since most of the high paid CEOs’ money is put into investments, it is taxed at a much lower rate than the

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

Robert Reich explained to us, "Income inequality is inevitable and is the 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 nations, the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million people put together"2. First of all, income inequality exists everywhere, it is not a problem for itself. Because of the income inequality, poor people know the life different between people, then they will work harder and harder to catch up to get rid of the 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 makes people improve themselves. However, the data show that the income gap is too huge now, the income distribution is extremely unfair. 400 people have more money than the half of the nation, so now the great income inequality disturbs social inequality. Gregory Mantsios wrote "Class in America-2009", he provided some examples from the rich, middle class and poor family to discuss the different life condition of the different class in America. Mr. Mantsios state, "Despite what we like to think about ourselves as a nation, the truth is that

“The Congressional Budget Office has concluded that between 1979 and 2007, the imbalance in income has more than tripled between the top 1 percent of the population and the majority” (Reich). After federal taxes and transfer payments, the income of the top 1 percent rose by 275 percent, while it rose less than 40 percent for the middle, working, and lower classes and only 18 percent for the under-class. “According to the Census Bureau, average household incomes have been declining, while the income of the wealthiest 1 percent has risen by 31 percent. Economist, Emmanuel Saez, has estimated that about 95 percent of all economic gains since the recovery of the 2008 recession have gone to the top 1 percent” (Reich).

To gain a better understanding of how the economy became so disproportionate, the Economic Policy Institute study compares the decades of rising inequality since 1979 with the era from 1928 to 1979, “when inequality narrowed and the American middle class emerged, grew and prospered. The mid-20th century

Income inequality between households in the United States has increased considerably over the past decades. When stagflation became an issue in the 1970s, the income gap also began to increase. Although income inequality is not increasing as rapidly as it was in the 1980s, it is

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

The stock market crash in 1929 tanked the country’s economy and triggered a severe recession. The crash basically leveled the income of every American income because so many people lost the money that invested in the market. As the economy improved, the gap between the rich and the poor widened (Leubsdorf). After World War II, unions became common (workers were given fair treatment) and a minimum wage was enacted to help close the gap, but eventually the top percent was the only group of workers that could earn more money. The middle and lower classes suffered. After WWII ended in 1945, the country’s top 1 percent held 10 percent of the nation’s total wealth (Rugaber and Boak). This statistic grew when only the wealthiest Americans increased their incomes. The rest of workers saw little to no economic growth.

Robert Reich has made it clear that America’s scales of income distribution and wealth are unevenly

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.

We live in a society where Americans are struggling to survive in their economy. Everything is completely getting worse that “we” as U.S citizens perhaps are noticing the changes that are occurring around us. The one statistic that caught my attention was the year 1978. The top 1% is making $390,000 than a male worker that made $48,000. Throughout the years nothing has changed, but for a reason the top 1% has made over a million. It’s also alarming how the middle class is shrinking. Without middle class the economy doesn’t function at all. Many Americans are going unemployment, their pay checks are decreasing, and their going into poverty. Speaking of poverty, it’s horrendous how Reich mentioned that the majority of kids that are born into

In the documentary titled “Inequality for All”, Robert Reich attempts to describe to the audience and his students reasons for the income inequality found in the United States. “Inequality for All” showed an endearing and caring side of Reich, where he made himself seem human and fallible. I found myself personally enjoying this side of him, the short aging man who, although a Rhodes Scholar drives a Cooper and holds himself above politics.

With that in mind the author’s article also looks closely at the rich and poor. Reich starts by looking at Technology and the fact that it is now a huge part of today’s society within everyday life and also in numerous workplaces; with these advances in technology it is allowing the big companies to reduce the labor costs, moving back to the title “Why the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer” (Reich 404). With this established Reich then goes onto the consequences of advances in technology stating “Heavy industries, where high-volume standardized production continues its ineluctable move to where labor is cheapest” (Reich 405) this statement shows the competition in order to receive work, the employees are forced to compete in price in order to just get the job, if this is happening it means that the price of their services drops dramatically, meaning they are working for less than what they should be whilst allowing the larger companies to produce the products for cheaper and make larger