Larry Bartels Unequality

Paul Krugman, in a recent article has eloquently discussed the issue of unequally distributed income in the United States (Krugman, 2015). He alludes to a number of general economic principles in this article. He talks about how a major misconception about the effect of taxes on income inequality in the United States has been addressed through a recent research carried out by Branko Milanovic and Janet Gornick.

There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries

Presently the United State 's income gap between the middle class and wealthy is undoubtedly significant. Some say that income inequality is

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.

Edin and Skinner begin their article by explaining to their readers that income inequality is a prevalent and complex problem in America today. The authors also point out that although President Obama and several other Democrats have proposed legislative approaches, such as raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich, to combat this problem, it will take a long time for these proposals to become law due to the Republican-dominated Congress. Because the authors believe these laws will take too long to be put into

According to Robert Reich from his article, “Why Inequality is the Real Cause of Our Terrible Economy”, in the era between 1947 and 1977 median wages soared because big name corporations and the top one percent took home less. This national prosperity soon ended with President Nixon cutting the dollar to gold convertibility on August 15th, 1971 (Delmastro). The dollar became a currency that is ultimately backed by nothing. The tangible object of gold became insignificant. This created issues of corruption, inflation, and crony capitalism. Beginning in the 1980s, the income gap in the U.S. significantly started to widen because of this. Reich in his documentary, Income Inequality for All, further states that during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, Reagan lowered the tax rate on the rich from seventy percent to an outstanding percentage of a low thirty five. Regrettably this is not the worst issue, as most of the one percent invests in stock which in turn makes their capital gains subjected only to a fifteen percent tax rate (Reich, Income Inequality for All). These are not coincidences but the unfortunate fact that the American government is influenced by and catered for the top one percent. The truth of the matter is the history of the dollar is only one factor behind the ever increasing income gap between the wealthy and the poor. Shady legal tactics will keep the situation stagnated until a solution is made clear.

Reagan reimagined the meaning of social programs and taxes. Taxes became a way for the government to take hard-earned money and give it to those who were deemed as less motivated in an effort to stress an unfair tax system. Social programs also became a vehicle that nurtured this illegitimate transfer of wealth rather than a humane answer to those disadvantaged. These ideas such as the demonization of tax hikes were so successful that many of his presidential successors have had to adopt similar economic policy to please constituents. As with the slow-release revolution, as part of the way he changed the political landscape, wealth income inequality rapidly rose after Reagan left office, “revers[ing] five decades of reductions in income and other forms of inequality” (228). Clinton’s election into office is a great indicator of how appealing the new ideology adopted by Reagan, the demonization of taxes and social programs, was to the American

“Growing Apart: The Evolution of Income vs. Wealth Inequality” written by Michael Cragg and Rand Ghayad is an article about how wealth distribution in America has dramatically changed within the last three decades and how it has become one of the most political and economic trends in this nation. The main priority of the article is that it talked about how the wealth and financial statues in the United States has favored in the upper class and has opposed the middle and lower class within the last three decades. The first subdivision talked about how income inequality and wealth inequality are both different and how wealth inequality has a bigger negativity on the United States economic growth. The second subdivision talked about how if the

This wealth gap has become increasingly large in recent years. “The richest 20 percent of Americans hold nearly 85 percent of the total household wealth in the country” (Mantsios 284). The wealth gap has been growing at a faster rate in recent years, since about 1995. “Edward Wolff found that wealth inequality actually leveled off from 1989 to 1995, a slow growth period, after rising steeply between 1983 and 1989, a fast growing period” (Zhu). The wealth gap had stopped growing prior to 1995 and had been leveling off for about 6 years. This period of slow growth stopped in 1995 though. “89 percent of the total net growth from 1995 to 2004 took place among the wealthiest households” (Harvard). So, while the wealth gap had started to stagnate in in 1989 it began growing at an incredibly fast rate in 1995. Almost 90 percent of the entire wealth gain went to the upper class after 1995. This fast growth rate was a result of the introduction of broadband Internet and the digital

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 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 income growth by income level under Democratic and Republican Presidents chart is a bit confusing and misleading, but it looks as if with the Democratic presidents, economic inequality declines somewhat. Also with the Republican presidents, economic inequality rises quickly, but the Democratic presidents made higher annual income than the Republicans did. This chart basically shows that throughout the years of 1948-2005 the levels of income fluctuate up and down with both Republican and Democratic presidents this is why is it very important for everyone to vote and know who and what their vote for. We the people can’t expect change if we are not willing to put in the work it takes to make the changes with something as simple as voting, the outcomes of election are and can only be determined by those who participate. Elected officials make very important and often

In chapter two of Bartels book Unequal Democracy. He elaborates on several arguments of how people running the white house have created drastic differences in American family income growth. Throughout his research he found out that republican administrations have had an increase in income throughout the lower and middle class in the U.S.A. In addition he found that Democratic administrations have lagged this income growth to the lower and middle class families. As the white house continues to change in political views Bartel catches these dramatic differences in income growth. He proves this by showing post-war era statistics. These statistics showed that with Democrats in control, the unemployment rate is less than under a Republican. But

Capitalism has been the central force behind the growth of the United States’ progressive economy. Within such advanced economic system the chances of economic disparity are significantly high. In fact, over the past three decades there has being a steady increase in unequal wealth distribution among the economic classes. To sustain the current unequal wealth distribution among the classes of the American population, there are numerous factors that influence and shape this trend. For some members of the population it is alarmingly disturbing to know that recent statistics have shown that, “In the US [alone] the wealthiest 1% of its population owns more than the bottom 95 %” (Gutman). As for the difference in economic wealth, it resulted

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