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Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase [PDF]. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
For instance, surveys show people tend to underestimate the income disparity between the top and bottom 20% of Americans, and overestimate the opportunity for poor individuals to climb the social ladder. Additionally, a majority of adults believe that corporations conduct business fairly despite evidence to the contrary and that the government should not act to reduce income inequality.
Even though inequality is increasing, Americans seem to believe that our social and economic systems work exactly as they should. This perspective has intrigued social scientists for decades. My colleague Andrei Cimpian and I have demonstrated in our recent research that these beliefs that our society is fair and just may take root in the first years of life, stemming from our fundamental desire to explain the world around us.
http://theconversation.com/lifes-not-fair-so-why-do-we-assume-it-is-45981
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday September 10 2015, @08:02PM
Life's not fair! So why do we assume it is a little bit fairer than it actually is?
FTFY. Though it's not as snappy.
And the answer is, of course, that we don't have enough information, or the inclination to go and get it for ourselves. Ain't nobody (apart from the economists) got time for that.
there's quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
Yes. That's why they are economists and we're not. They study the economy. "We" don't.
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