Confronting Inequality Summary

In “House Passes Tax Bill, as Does Senate Panel” by Thomas Kaplan and Alan Rapperport, both belong to the upper class and are affected by the newly passed bill, suggest that the tax bill passed by Republicans is negatively affecting individuals that are already in the lower class. Kaplan and Rapperport develops their claim by first stating the cause and effect of this bill that, “...actually raises taxes on low-income Americans within a few years”(Kaplan, Rapperport). Secondly, quoting the Senator of Maryland, “You’ve targeted the relief to help the wealthy, and the middle-income families are going to get stuck with it” (Cardin). Kaplan and Rapperport's purpose is to reveal the consequences of the bill in order to explain how it changes the

A different issue that affected inequality in the economy was that people with power often would pay themselves large salaries over their employees. The new tax reform was also in favor of the rich because it helped reduced their taxes which did little good for the average American. In 1993 the tax code changed several inequities that were in the government tax structure in the 1980s. The rise in minimum wage improved the quality of living for the people who received a very low wage for working. This caused a decrease in inequality pay but not for income.

In this article by Sean Mcelwee(2014) he talks about why income inequality is the toughest issue America will face in the next few decades. In the article, Why income inequality is America’s biggest (and most difficult) problem, Mcelwee(2014) believes that after the studies he has seen, the most effective way to solve the policy issue of income inequality is by higher taxes on income and wealth. However, the rich would never buy into this solution, because it would take more of their wealth, when the wealthy are trying to maximize their money returns. Mcelwee (2014) also talks about how when a family is wealthy, money tends to stay in the family for 10-15 generations, which is also true for families with lower incomes as stated here by

Paul Krugman author of the article “Confronting Inequality” stresses the inequality of our social classes in the United States, he uses statistics to demonstrate the staggering consequences of this inequality within our social classes. Krugman emphasizes the fact that a majority of our wealth is owned by about one percent of the population, which is leaving the middle and lower class at an extreme disadvantage. One example Krugman uses is education; children that have wealthy families, have a higher percentage of finishing college than those of lower income families, proving the statement that Krugman was accentuating, “Class-inherited class- usually trumps talent.” The parents within this middle to lower class have been exceed their financial

In the article “Confronting Inequality” by Paul Krugman it explains how and why large changes between wages of wealth and the problems between the social classes. America's middle class in today’s society are exceeding their limits in effort to give their children opportunities many middle class parents did not have themselves. Ways that many middle class parents are doing this is by buying homes that they can't afford; this is so their children will be able to attend a good school. Another reason why middle class parent are doing this so that their children can have more opportunities to one day slow the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. Another reason that inequality between the classes is important Krugman believes is because

Robert Reich starts off his article by stating the idea that income inequality is necessary for an economy to function at is fullest because people need incentive to work hard and make it to the top. Once he gets into the section about what we need to do to fix this growing problem of the wealth gap he states that there is not any one thing that we can do to fix it rather there need to be multiple things to happen to fix it. The first way Reich says we can fix the economy for a smaller wealth gap is to raise the minimum wage to about 15 dollars an hours in industries that are growing very fast like fast-food and hospitals. These industries are making large amounts of money but they are paying their workers very little. His next step is to get

In Bernie Sanders book, The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class, he states on the issue of how a tax break in favor of millionaires will only continue the decline of middle class families, poverty to increase and for there to only be a great gap between the wealthy and middle class. On December 10, 2010, Bernie Sanders brought to the attention to the House of Senate how President Obama’s and the Republicans agreement on a tax break for millionaires would not be the greatest of plans. He brings to light how unjust it would be that millionaires would receive tax breaks while the lower and middle class continue to get higher tax rates. Ultimately what Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to clarify is, that this tax agreement will only cause damage to future generations. In his point of view, if this were to occur, this will only cause American citizens to believe that the political system is declining the progress of the middle class but

Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle

They all make decent points towards income inequality, and inequality as a whole. Becker and Murphy believe that if a higher education will give you a higher income, although education after high school is expensive, the returns are worth it. Even though statistics prove that Becker and Murphy's theory is correct, Krugman believes that the living standards are important and shouldne be jepordized, because of an education. Paul Krugman in “Confronting Inequality” attempts to explain how bad inequality is and the things that can bring inequality to high or low levels. He gives reasons of why he and Americans should care about the increase in inequality.

In the movie, Inequality for All, there are a lot of important facts and research about our American economy that has not been helpful for the middle class. It has been beneficial for the upper class on many different levels but it hurts the heart and soul of the American workforce which is again the middle class. Without the middle class there would be no upper class, the middle class is very essential to the American economy flowing smoothly. In this film, former United States secretary of labor Robert Reich travels across America looking for answers to what happened to our economy. Reich explains what America has been and become over the last one hundred years.

The problem of income inequality is not something new, but it is something that people must worry about because it is affecting not only our wallets, but our communities as a whole. I agree on the author’s point of view about income inequality in the United States his position is very similar to another Robert Reich documentary called “Inequality for all” where he mentions all the aspects that brought United States economic system to a hold just to help a fraction of all population one of those systems was education where before the nineteen eighties it was cheaper to go to college than nowadays or the fact that workers were pay almost the same as any other for their sacrifice . Going back to the video on debate he mentions how policies changed

Source Analysis Assignment In source one, Howard Zinn discusses how there is no necessity for incentives in order for individuals to work collectively to contribute to society. Zinn suggests that generally, since, everyone has similar basic needs, it is unnecessary to have wide income gaps. His beliefs are from a collectivist standpoint because he proposes that there should be a more balanced distribution of wealth for everyone. He would oppose the belief of elitism and would support ideas such as a Universal Basic Income which ensures that every individual in a country receives a sum of money from the government which allows them to have basic necessities met.

Income Inequality Income Inequality or “wage gap” is a big topic for freedom fighters and liberals for the simple fact that it isn’t equal for everyone. Because the wage gap is so prominent it's one of the biggest “facts” that discrimination is still apart of everyday American society. The wage gap from these radical interest groups think the economy is get a dollar take a dollar instead of a free flow economy. This misguided idea of the economy is absolutely not true and isn’t at the fault of the Government, but the people.

The article says, “While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall.” (Stiglitz 2011) While the rich are getting higher incomes prices the poor are getting higher income by taking it from the one in the middle which therefore, makes them get a lower income percentage. America has fallen behind because of not being an equal country to the population by the income equality there is a huge gap between the income being earned by the poor and the rich. The rich are wealthy and the poor depend on the government for everything. As stated in the article, “America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride.

The problem with the widened wealth gap is that the inequality may harm the quality. Meaning that those in the higher classes see it as you can use the money with no restrictions. However, economist believe that the “relationship between inequality and economic freedom, with the possibility that policies that are meant to reduce inequality will reduce economic freedom, which will then only make inequality worse.”