Income Inequality Research

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.

The income inequality amount all Americans is growing greater amount of stress on the everyday people. For instance, older populations are living longer which means they require medical attention more often because they’re getting weaker and venerable to the world. The ACA was passed to help all American receive coverage yet, problems like this still happen. Robyn Stone talks about how Medicare would have much benefit if they did communities housing for older families, keeping in mind the idea is that they should be able to live where they want too. Diane Rowland contradicts Stone by imploring her idea that states should close the Medicaid’s gap to give medical help for everyone and their need.

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.

Without realizing it, most of us live in a bubble. This impermeable layer makes us oblivious to what's going on in the world and ignorant to the truth. The media is powerful, but there is a huge difference between seeing something, and experiencing it in person. After 17 years of living in that bubble, I finally popped it and opened my eyes to a world I had never felt before. Colombia, like many developing nations, faces rampant income inequality that acts as a huge barrier for the country to make a leap towards economic prosperity. But to truly understand this great monster in our world called "income inequality", you have to experience both extreme living conditions. And during the summer, I was able to do just that. In 24 hours. With an

Executive Compensation. I’m in agreement with Thomas Piketty that the one cause of rising inequality in the United States “the rise of supersalaries” for top executives (Piketty & Goldhammer, 2014, p. 298). The average American estimates CEO to worker pay ratio at about 30-to-1, which is more than 4 times what they believe to be ideal. The career review site Glassdoor reported from 2014 data that the average pay ratio of CEO to median worker was 204-to-1 and that at the top of the list, four CEOs earn more than 1,000 times the salary of their median worker with the very top pay ratio of 1,951-to-1. In some cases a CEO makes in one-hour what it takes the average employee six-months to earn. In comparison, the Washington Post reported for the

The hot topic of inequality is a widespread issue within the United States and many other countries alike. The gap appears to be continually expanding between the extremely wealthy and the extremely impoverished. The author states that, “To really grasp the essential meaning of economic inequality requires examining how income is measured in relation to demographic changes, geographic differences, and shifting fortunes over the life course” (Gilbert 11). Determining exactly how inequality works, and is measured, becomes very difficult when considering all that plays into a viable resolution. In addition, the diverse differences that exist for income expenditures from state to state play a major role. For example, “...when regional price differences

For the past 30 years the “gap” in income received by the rich and the lower class has continuously continued to increase, showing no signs of decrease anytime soon. This gap has mostly affected the middle class, which is made up of mostly African Americans and Hispanics, making America less determined to correct such an issue. Given the circumstances African American’s are the focus of this issue due to the fact they make up majority of the middle class. It is known that modern racism exist within today’s society in various ways, one of which happen to be within the economy. For decades the economy has had its downfalls, however, it’s been facing an issue that it has been hiding from the rest of the nation. The gap that everyone speaks has

The problem of income inequality is one that is very prevalent in this time in America. The disparity of wealth in this country is very vast and a growing problem. These problems of income inequality are taking away peoples aspect human dignity, this is a major moral issue because everyone is entitled to human dignity and when it is taken away from them that is moral wrong. Additionally this is an issue in which the Church is very involved in. Additionally President Obama in his State of the Union Address back in January also made note of the problems in the nation with regards to income inequality and the minimum wage. The United States Catholic Conference

The debate over whether income inequality should be an important topic in comparison to other issues that our nation faces. Income inequality an be defined as “the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population (dictionary.com).”According to the Census Bureau who reported that there has been a “rise in income inequality in America, the gap between rich and poor in New York is getting worse (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. Right America has one of the largest inequality gap, in comparison to India and the African nation of Burkina Faso (CQ Researcher, pg. 991)”. This debate over income inequality has been inconsistent. Some do not see an issue with the way that money is distributed, while other see this issue as a major problem that our nation faces and strategies/ policies needs to be implemented to address this issue. I

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.

The distribution of income in the United States, is a growing controversy. Far left and far right groups have distinctly differing opinions on income inequality and whether it is beneficial or detrimental to the economic growth of the nation. Mainstream politics, however, tend to be relatively devoid of discussion about the extreme wealth gap. The rising levels, factors, and opinions of income inequality as well as methods of income redistribution will be discussed.

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

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).

Many proponents of capitalism argue that the wealth is shared with the workers. But is it true? According to an annual report in 2008, an average American CEO makes as much money in one day compared to what an average worker earns in one year1. And the disparity between business leaders and average workers continues to grow over time. From 1990 to 2005, the CEO’s salaries increased almost 300%, while a worker received a scant 4.3%2. The social consequence of this disparity is the concentration of wealth on a small percentage of population.

Much has been written about Economic inequality and how it affects various aspects of quality of life. The literature is varied with recent works such as Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s Spirit Level which suggesting that economic inequality has a detrimental effect on several factors such as increased crime, increased obesity, and worse mental health within a country. Whilst other authors have seen economic growth as part of the development process as outlined by Simon Kuznets. Whilst there has always been a wide range of literature on inequality, this literature has expanded significantly since the Financial Crisis of 2008. The financial crisis seems to have sparked a vast amount of public disapproval which has been reflected in the increased literature and popularity as shown through French economist Thomas Piketty’s best-seller ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’