What Is Income Inequality?

In Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore, Robert H. Frank paints a picture to the reader about the struggles of pier pressure. For example: an upper-classmen chooses to buy a big house and fancy clothing. This acts as a “frame of reference” to the changes and norms of the society. If he spends money on something nice, a middle-classmen will then go and decide to do the same thing, and then a lower-classmen…all the way down the social hierarchy. This is what he calls an “expenditure cascade.” Robert relates this with a person’s downfalls, which can be traced due to lower income inequality. Income inequality basically means that in a given quantity, the dispersion of income is underlined by the gap between individuals and or households with

Time magazine shows how much popularity and support Sanders has received (“The Gospel” 34). A politician who is not afraid to stand up for what he or she trusts will make this nation grow for the future. Bernie Sanders shows this nation that if freedom and equality is given regardless of what color skin you are, where you come from, or how much money and power you have, will make a better

Income inequality is increasingly becoming a significant concern for many countries around the world. The income difference between the highly-educated, skilled, wealthy class and the poor, low to mid-skilled workers is growing larger and larger. In fact, the incomes of the rich are increasing significantly, while the low skilled workers’ incomes have been declining (The Economist, “Wealth Without Workers”). According to The Economist, real median wages have been decreasing since 2000 in half of the member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In the United States, there was a 4% increase from 1980 to 2012 in the share of national income that was distributed to the top 0.01% (The Economist, “True Progressivism”). Canada is facing a similar problem of rising inequality.

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).

Income inequality is one of the greatest problems facing the United States today. It is important for everyone to understand what this means and why this is a problem.

Vermont Senator and presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, said it best when he said “A nation will not serve morally or economically when so few have so much, and so many have so little.” This quote perfectly describes the issue that The United States is currently dealing with: income inequality. Income inequality is the gap between how much money is made by the rich and everyone else in the nation. It also refers to the unequal distribution of wealth among people in a population. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States has steadily been rising, making it seem as though economic growth is stable (Inequality for All). However, it does not take into account the increasingly widening gap between the 1% and the 99% of the nation’s population. Government officials should pay closer attention to income inequality in The United States because ignoring the issue ultimately hurts American citizens.

Inequality is not favorable in society. There is inequality in many aspects of our society, such as race, and gender. The main inequality we look at is income inequality in the United States. The one percent of the population control a vast majority of the United States currency. The Gini coefficient has been increasing ever since the Industrial Revolution, a period where education, manufacturing, and economics has shown growth. However, income inequality has increased in the Industrial Revolution. There are many events, and causes that have led to the rise of income equality in the United States.

The 2016 Presidential Election is coming sooner and sooner as each day passes, and it’s approaching the point where all eligible voters need to become informed about the each of the Democrat and Republican candidates running in the 2016 Presidential bid. The voter should be aware of what each candidate represents and what their values are and from that the voter can decide which candidate suits their beliefs best and vote for said candidate when the time comes. In this upcoming election, in my opinion, the candidate that wants the best for the majority of the citizens of the United States is Senator Bernie Sanders. His views in politics, connect with many poor and middle class families because all throughout his political career and his 2016

America conceits itself on being one of the greatest positive fairly ruled districts. Income inequality not only troubles us financially, but disturbs our intellectual and bodily comfort; so, it is significant to categorize the true conducts to governor capital delivery between individuals. The knowledge of the American vision is all people have equivalent public rights and an open administration. Yet, the use of fairness is actuality endangered by growing inequality in the United States. “The dominant view holds that economic development and modernization are the key to the continued growth of democracy” (Snider and Faris 2001; United Nations, 2011). The pay openings have not just been rising among the unfortunate and the rest of the world but amid the rich and the middle and occupied seminar.

Opponents claim that having the rich pay more in tax is class warfare. For example, former speech writer for former President Richard Nixon, Ben Stein, said on CBS's Sunday Morning, "I am not quite sure what my sin is. I worked for almost every dollar I have." He argues that the wealthy are being punished. "But for what? I don't own any slaves. I employ many people full- and part-time and they are all excited with their pay... what did I do wrong?"("Extending Tax Cuts") Ben Stein reports this as class warfare, Since it requires him to pay additional tax for working hard and earning more money. The bottom 40% of all income earners benefit greatly from the income tax code. "In fact, they actually pay negative income tax rates due to refundable credits, such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit wipe out their tax liability and pay out more money to them than they ever paid in. The income tax burden of low-income earners has trended for years"(Dubay). Since low income earners don’t have enough money to spend on their kids, the government gives them money. In some occasions the government gives these families more than they pay in taxes. Those who oppose this say that raising tax rates on the rich damages economic growth, because it reduces the incentives to work, save, invest, and accept economic risk. Raising taxes on the rich hurts workers at all income

Bernie Sanders ran for political office in the town of Burlington, Vermont in 1981 and was elected mayor. He created many projects to improve the town in ways of housing, taxation, child care, women’s rights, and youth programs. In this same context, he created the Burlington Community Land Trust, an award winning project. He has also shown that he is no stranger to competing with those who have money on their side. In 2006 Bernie Sanders became a candidate for Vermont’s seat in the senate, running against the richest man in the state. To the voters of Vermont, upbringing, education, and political awareness mattered more than wealth. Despite the odds, Sanders won the seat, proving that money is irrelevant in a truly democratic race.

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.” said Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second inaugural address. Today, social inequality is highly apparent and many of the United States’ political candidates are unable to do anything to resolve it. Bernard “Bernie” Sanders, a democratic socialist, is the best candidate to resolve social inequality along with other problems the nation has today. Bernie Sanders has proven himself to be a defender of the people with his stance for social inequality and his plans on reforming the nation.

The 2016 election left many echoing the same words. What happen? Why was Donald Trump so appealing despite his appalling sexism and racism? Why did Americans embrace a noticeably incompetent candidate whose main campaign was propelled not by ethical procedures, but by provocations and insults? As we have judiciously deliberate in class, multiple factors impacted the unforeseeable outcome of the election. While some authors like Jeff Guo and Chris Arnade argued it was economic dissatisfaction that steered Mr. Trump to victory. Conversely, others such as Thomas Frank and Amanda Taub instead racial tensions and year for white privilege be the main contributors to the rise of Trump. The result of the election has been told through a number of different

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.

Income inequality, also known as economic inequality or wealth and income differences typically refers to inequality among individuals and society, but it can also refer to disparity among countries. There are many reasons for this phenomenon to happen within the societies, most of them are often inter-related. However, we could say that the most important factor that causes greater income inequalities are wages and salaries.