Extreme policies lead to extreme outcomes.
Income inequality reached its highest level in more than half a century last year, as a record-long economic expansion continued to disproportionately benefit some of the wealthiest Americans.
A key measure of wealth distribution jumped to 0.485 in 2018, the Census Bureau said Thursday, its highest reading since the so-called Gini index was started in 1967. The gauge, which uses a scale between 0 and 1, stood at 0.482 a year earlier.
Work alone won't solve poverty—unless wages and earnings pick up substantially. It still takes government aid for families with children and others who do not earn enough, despite working 40 plus hours a week.
The most troubling thing about the new report, says William M. Rodgers III, a professor of public policy and chief economist at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University, is that it "clearly illustrates the inability of the current economic expansion, the longest on record, to lessen inequality."
According to some research, US income inequality might be higher than it was during the Roman Empire, and pre-tax income inequality is as high as it was in the Roaring Twenties.
Income inequality is blamed on cheap labor in China, unfair exchange rates, and jobs outsourcing. Corporations are often blamed for putting profits ahead of workers. But they must to remain competitive. U.S. companies must compete with lower-priced Chinese and Indian companies who pay their workers much less. As a result, many companies have outsourced their high-tech and manufacturing jobs overseas. The United States has lost 20 percent of its factory jobs since 2000. These were traditionally higher-paying union jobs.
Service jobs have increased, but these are much lower paid.
If current policies touted as "decreasing globalism" in the US economy are trying to reduce income inequality, they're failing.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by julian on Sunday September 29 2019, @03:56PM (3 children)
No one "earned" a billion dollars. No one. They stole it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @05:07PM (1 child)
Good job proving TMB's point.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29 2019, @05:58PM
Congrats on failing common sense.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Monday September 30 2019, @06:28PM
That's what's wrong... they didn't actually steal it (most times), they "earned" it fair and square, within the rules.
The problem with the rules is that they present some people with much easier and likely opportunities for success than others, like 100:1 and worse ratios.
Sure, anyone can win a megamillions lottery, but some kids are born to situations where they "earn" their own megamillions - completely legally and within the rules, but using lottery level advantages that they were born to.
🌻🌻 [google.com]