Summary Of Confronting Inequality By Paul Krugman

In Paul Krugman’s essay, “Confronting Inequality,” he discusses various points about how America has developed into quite the divided country over the years. The United States of America has become unequal in terms of annual income, living standards, education and school districts, politics, and social standards, just to name a few. Several matters of combatting the injustice faced by the nation are also mentioned. All of Krugman’s points revolve around one central question, being “why should we care about high and rising inequality?” (Graff, Birkenstein, Durst 561). I believe inequality truly does raise concerning problems within our society, but it also may be a positive thing for our people. Extreme equality could, in turn, result in a communistic government in which those who work into overdrive earn the same titles as those who do not.

This article titled "How income inequality hurts America” written by Steve Hargreaves explains the thesis statement itself. On the other hand, he states it’s not just income equality but it’s also lifespan inequality, education inequality, and declining economic growth, which refers to the graphs shown above the starting paragraph. Mr. Hargreaves then points out a fact that the rich are getting richer, while the poor and the middle class are falling behind. Another fact concerning this issue is the 400 richest people outnumber the wealth of the bottom 150 million put together.

In the article “Confronting Inequality,” by Paul Krugman claims that inequality has been affecting the low and middle class families for years. In the article it states that because of growing inequality, it has lead to social and income issues. Krugman claims that the different levels of social and income classes are the same as they were back in the Gilded Age. Also, in the article it states that because inequality growing so much it has led to less opportunities for people. Low income families have a disadvantage to send their childrens to good schools. Not to mention, Krugman outlines that if the rich were to be taxed a little bit more, it can help the middle income families advance and eventually have universal healthcare. Low income families

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.

In his article "Confronting Inequality" Paul Krugman is asserting the fact of high socioeconomic inequality in the United States, while demonstrating its consequences and the variety of statistic evidences upon it. He is depicting modern American society where we have a huge gap between economic elite and lower-and middle-income classes. There is a time for ''a Great Moderation" reforms that will bring a socioeconomic equality.

It takes very little to disrupt the slow healing progress our nation has undertaken in the wake of the financial crisis of seven years ago. As President Barack Obama \has put it, by signing the Affordable Care Act into law, “everyone should have some basic security when it comes to their health care” (Stolberg, Sheryl Gay) . Something as influential as a universal health care bill is no exception to the scale. While many are concerned of the repercussions this will not only have on employment opportunities but also higher taxes, there is a flipped side to the Affordable Care Act. As in its name, health care should be affordable for people of all tax brackets

For this essay, I have read Confronting Inequality by Paul Krugman and “The American Dream: Dead, alive, or on Hold by Brandon King. Paul Krugman argues that income equality makes it impossible to live a better life (The American Dream). The rich people are getting richer; while the poor are getting poorer. Krugman talks briefly the cost of Inequality, the math of Equalization in the United States if the idea of equalization was accepted and reducing market inequality. The Cost of Inequality talks about the difference in those of lower class and higher class and references Horatio Alger.

Health is the most important thing one can have. Without good health, people cannot continue living. Thus, Congress drafted a bill called Affordable Care Act, or commonly known as Obamacare, on March 23, 2010. This new healthcare reform strategize to increase affordable healthcare insurance and lower the costs of healthcare for citizens. One important aspect of the bill is that it demand all insurance companies to cover every client despite his or her pre-existing conditions. The motto for this reform is “quality over quantity,” which means the government want to shift healthcare from higher price to higher benefits. The primary goal of the bill is to lower future government spending (Pear, Robert).

The last issue concerning wealth inequality is the health and well being of the lower class. The high rates of social problems: lower rates of performance in school, life expectancy, incarceration, teenage pregnancy along with health problems like obesity and heart disease are directly effected by the United States high inequality. The reason for poor school performance is that children of the lower class typically do not plan on going to college because they cannot afford it. If they do not plan on going to college, they don’t believe there is a reason to put a lot of effort and succeed in high school.

From 1938-1969, in America was in a period called the great compression, a time where the difference between the richest and poorest Americans was very small and economic growth was explosive. Due to past and current economic policies and events, income inequality has exploded in America, which is why in 2015 America had the highest level of wealth inequality in the world at 80.56 gini[1] . In the future this inequality will slow down economic growth, increase debt for middle income Americans, make America less democratic, and reduce economic mobility. This problem, however, does have solutions and this paper will lay out some of the solutions and the effect they will have on the economy, but first I will explain the history of income inequality in the US.

Americans today live in a distinctly unequal society. Inequality is now wider than it used to be in the last century, and the division in income, wages, and wealth are broader than they are in other developed economies of the world. Wealth inequality is the imbalance of wealth or income within a society, and it is one of the most vital economic challenge the US is facing today because the distribution of wealth is more dispersed, making the inequality in wealth distribution at its highest. While the matter has been discussed for many years, the actual income disparity in the U.S. has heightened and is now verging on an extreme gap that portends to impede long-term economic growth. The huge gap between the wealthy and poor is squeezing the U.S. economy, the wealth gap threatens economic growth by diminishing social mobility and producing a less-educated workforce who are not able to compete in the global economy. unrestrained level of income inequality causes political pressures, it discourages trade, investment, and hiring. The present level of income inequality in the U.S. is shrinking GDP growth, and the world's largest economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession.

“One reason to care about inequality is the straightforward matter of living standards. The lions share of the economic growth in America over the past thirty years has gone to a small, wealthy minority…”(Krugman 586).

In “Confronting Inequality” by Paul Krugman he tries to show how inquailty in the united states has been getting worse and how it s affecting the united states. He provides many reason to why iniquility is the way it s and how he belives it can be helped. He also states the positive effects in helping the inquility in the united states will have.

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

Each year income increases in the United States. Economic inequality and political inequality may have a connection where our democracy could be affected but americans have the ability to solve this problem. Economic inequality refers to wealth or income between different groups or a society as a whole. There have been past social movements that have tried to improve this problem such as women's suffrage and more. We are still trying to resolve this issue of economic inequality.