Question

Consider the following quote from chapter 14 of the eText: ”The twenty wealthiest people in the United States now own more wealth than the bottom half of the American population: in other words, 20 people own more wealth than the combined wealth of 152 million other people (eText, p. 347).
For example, one report states that: “Since 2009, 95% of U.S. economic gains have gone to the wealthiest 1% of the population” (“Income Inequality: Why Does the Gap Keep Widening?” The Week Feb. 7, 2014).

But not only is there a widening gap between the “Rich and the Rest of Us” (to use the title of a recent book by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West: LINK (Links to an external site.)), there is also the ever widening reach of marketing into everything or what Michael Sandel calls the marketization of society. In Sandel’s TED Talk video, he expresses this concern that America is becoming a market society, meaning a society that uses monetary rewards to motivate desired behaviors in all aspects of life (LINK (Links to an external site.)).

For our discussion, please answer the following two questions:

[1] Discuss the growing income inequality in the U.S. and the world with someone mature enough to have some perspective from experience about it. Ask them what they think about the widening gap between the rich and the rest of us in America, as our course materials speak of this problem. How has the economic trend for middle class Americans affected them? How as it affected you?

Answer 1

1) There was a time when US would be the example that every successful economic model would provide. It was because of the fact that it took a great deal of years to reach to such enomourous level of achivement as an economy. However, the inequalities that prevailed and are otherwise inevitable as well, did not allow the gap to widen. As mentioned above and also in other articles US is going through a 50 year high in income inequalities. Income inequality in the United States expanded from 2017 to 2018, with several heartland states among the leaders of the increase, even though several wealthy coastal states still had the most inequality overall, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The nation's Gini Index, which measures income inequality, has been rising steadily over the past five decades. Considering the stats, the co-efficient values grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 in 2018. A big factor in the increase in inequality has to do with two large population groups on either end of the economic boundaries. The baby boomers who are approaching retirement while the Gen-Z which are all set to get into jobs.

Surveys and research say that the middle class has been now struggling to catch up with that of the higher section. While the isolation of the economy with so many restrictions have not been able to help much. Mediocrity in living standards and job as well as wages is what the US economy suffers from today