Class is of course made up of a subtle, shifting blend of economic, social, education and attitudinal factors. But for my purposes, an income-based classification will provide a good starting point, not least because the trends in income inequality are fairly clear: the top fifth is pulling away from the rest of
Income inequality has been a major issue in American history. There are many different factors that contribute to inequality. These include education, wealth, discrimination, ability, and monopoly power.
Furthermore, the equality of opportunities as one of the foundations of the American dream turned into evident inequality. “The lion’s share of economic growth in American over the past thirty years has gone to a small, wealthy minority, to such an extent that it’s unclear whether the typical family has benefited at all from technological progress and the rising productivity it brings” (Krugman 586). Income inequality has been steadily growing since 2008 when the global financial crisis erupted. Moreover, the gap in prosperity between the group of Americans with high income and all the others had never been such extreme as it is now. Thus, not everyone has the opportunity to become wealthy through hard work. The increase in socioeconomic inequalities,
In response to the article, some the information was new but a lot of it not surprising. It was surprising, however, to read that although Mr. Naets is somewhat more educated and most likely in a higher tax bracket than his parents were, his standard of living is a lot lower than that of his parents. That is alarming only because we have a lot more opportunities available to us through networking or technology and on a scale that was never available to our parents. Also in Mr. Naets case, he and his wife earn well above the national average which is also alarming because you would think that someone in such a position would not be as worried as someone of the opposite spectrum. It is discerning to think that no matter how hard we strive to for a better life, we will always feel that is not enough.
Imagine that the U.S economy is a group of ten people making a cake. Despite the fact that everyone contributed, one person would take 90% of the cake. The other nine would be left to fight over the renaming 10%. In what universe would this be a fair situation.
In the article where Michael Shermer has his commentary, the skeptical side of income inequality is discussed. The article is very unique because it is a bunch of critics that respond to Michael Shermer’s claim “that the U.S. is still the land of equal opportunity.” Many scholars criticize Shermer’s skepticism that the income inequality is not as large as people perceive it to be in the United States. In one case, Shermer responds to a critic and he highlights how the rich and poor are not that far apart, emphasizing how many economists believe that poverty can be reduced to 0% by 2100, some believing even by 2050. Shermer concludes his response to the critic by signing off saying that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation predicted poverty
The current method to measure poverty fails to capture the whole financial situation of the individual for family seeking assistance. The eligibility guidelines for the benefit is based on outdated household income figures, does not adjust for geographic location nor capture a true reflection of one’s basic need for survival.
There are four categories of class in contemporary American society: upper, middle, working and lower. Of these four categories of classes, two are subdivide. These two are: upper class and the middle class.
The current widening income inequality is due to the substantial income disparity between the top and bottom workers in the U.S. economy. General decline in wage endangered the standard of living for low income family as they struggle with a tightened budget. In order to battle income inequality, policy makers must raise the income of the working poor by expanding tax credit program and increase its effectiveness through major modification.
In an economy, income inequality means the unequal distribution of household or individual income over many participants. It is also often presented as a percentage of income for a given percentage of the population. Most people associated income inequality with the concept of income fairness. Assuming that the rich have a larger share of the income of a country than the population in general, then they acknowledge it unfair. What causes the income inequality might be vary? It could be region, education, sex as well as social status. Income is the amount of money you earn from your job or investment. However, wealth is the amount you own, such as car, home, retirement amount, saving accounts, and so on. Even though, we are not living in the
The U.S. is the land of opportunity, but why will so many not achieve the American Dream? There is no doubt a difference exists between the rich and the poor. The most common words to describe social class are the upper, the middle, and the lower class groups of people . U.S. News (Francis) states 46.2 million people, approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population, currently live below the poverty line (Francis). Unequal income distribution contributes tremendously to poverty by making the rich, richer and keeping the poor, poorer.
Income inequality in America has been a major issue for years. We can see the uneven distribution by comparing one of the world’s wealthiest man in Bill Gates to the average person. He has made over 50 billion dollars in his lifetime. Comparing him to the average person who makes 37 thousand dollars a year. Although, unemployment rate has decreased in the U.S, the gap between rich and poor in this country has dramatically increased. There are many contributions to the gap, such as different education levels among citizens, living conditions, taxes, difference between salaries, and more. Income inequality in the U.S needs to be addressed. This horrible problem in our country
One of the largest social issues in America today is income and wealth inequality. Income inequality is when income is distributed unevenly amongst a population and consists of wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it (Mendelson). Wealth inequality is the unequal distribution of assets within a population. A person’s wealth is attributed to what a person owns which can include their residence, cash in savings accounts, investments in stocks and bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts (Aaron). Those who are unaffected typically brush off income and wealth inequality as none important. They view those who complain about barely making it by, as lazy and in their position of poverty by
I asked further on your question regarding points transfers from the Merrill Plus Card to the Premium Rewards card or another Bank of America card- you do have the ability to transfer points, but all Bank of America points are redeemed at a penny per point ($.01), as opposed to the Merrill Plus card, which allows redemption of 2 pennies per point ($.02) for airline tickets. Therefore, it is not beneficial for clients to transfer points (as you pointed out) to the new card, if they are planning on redeeming for airline tickets (if clients typically get redemptions in cash, the math will be the same, but they should probably be advised to redeem their points for airline tickets to get the same bang for your buck.
The topic of free speech and expression continues to make the headlines. Popular topics of the day range from the legalization of gay marriage; to the practices of Planned Parenthood; and the disruptive Black Lives Matter movement. A commonality between all these movements is the media driven bias that only one view is legitimate and the other as intolerant. This view clearly forgets that the ability to offend is the very definition of free speech and expression, a gift of free will. It evolved as a result of decades of oppression and violence, and is recorded in many governing documents of the Free World. This positive evolution has achieved actual change; however, today this hard fought battle
In any given population, there is a difference between what people within the population earn. The uneven distribution of income in any given population is income inequality. In order for there to be income, there has to be several sources of income. These sources of income may be combinational or independent per person receiving the income. Income may result from wages, rent, bank account interests, salaries or even profits made in business transactions ( Stiglitz, 2012).