...development economists generally. The focus on poverty reduction reached a high point perhaps with the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and with the extensive analytic work that has accompanied the MDGs.[2] Yet, much of the discussion of poverty reduction and economic development in low and middle income countries has either ignored the issue of income distribution or has tended to view income distribution only in terms of its impact on economic growth. Poverty and inequality, however, are intimately bound up with one another.[3] Both as an analytic issue and as a policy issue, there are severe limitations in attempting to deal with poverty – or, more broadly, with economic well-being – without also examining income inequality. Indeed, it is questionable that we can even define poverty independently of income distribution. In this essay, I want to develop the argument that economists and economic policy-makers should focus much greater attention on inequality as measured by the distribution of income (and wealth). The traditional focus simply on absolute levels of income as a measure of poverty and economic well-being is fundamentally flawed. My argument here has thee parts: • Poverty or, more generally, economic well-being cannot be effectively defined as distinct from income distribution. • Income distribution is fundamental to our understanding of justice (fairness) and human rights, and relative...
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...Economic Inequality in the United States According to the Gross Domestic Product, also known as GDP, United States was measured the “largest” economy in the world (Mahoney 10/27/2015). However, all Americans do not share the high standard of living in the U.S. Levels of income and wealth inequality have always been high in the United States. While it is ideal for a democratic country like the United States to have political equality, the reality shows that this is not the case; as economic inequality ultimately causes political inequality under the current system of government. Income inequality has not only been prevalent, but has been polarizing further since the 1970s. Currently, twenty-percent of the population takes home 50% of the total income and the top 1% takes home 25% of the income and owns 40% of total wealth (Mahoney, 2015 October 27). While CEOs of the Fortune 100 makes over $14 million a year, an average worker makes $45,230 a year; this is a clear illustration of the income disparity in the United States. Further, it is worth mentioning that such trends are not necessary common; the United States has always had higher levels of income and wealth inequality when compared to other rich democracies (Mahoney, 2015 October 27). The average household income is currently stagnant, which suggest that the average household cannot easily grow economically in the U.S and cannot help close the income inequality gap. In the movie Inequality for All, the manager of Circuit...
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...Living in the 21st century, society may believe that we live in a world of gender equality. A belief that is in fact idealistic. Gender inequality stems from deep rooted cultural ideologies. The enculturation process plays a role in learning gendered norms. Gender roles ascribed to men and women have affect in our society. Social inequalities affect many women in different walks of life. It can be seen in the type of work women obtain and which accounts for the gender wage gap. Gender inequality can also be seen at the educational level. Even though there is gender inequality all around us we we can all strive for gender equality by diminishing the causes of gender inequality. Lets take a step back and analyze what gender inequality truly...
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...Debt Inequality is essential to the economic purgatory of the United States. Debt Inequality is when the rich continue to prosper, while the poor continue to stay poor. To overcome this, one must jump through many hoops in order to put themselves in a financial position that is deemed to be stable and "above average". Debt Inequality is a serious problem within our economy and many people don't realize they are in this situation until it is too late. However, it is possible to leave the poor side on the Debt Inequality spectrum. When teenagers, are fresh into the United States Economy, it can be easy and tempting for them to take out student loans and spend money on expensive and unneeded items. It is important to stay on track economically...
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...One of the most discussed inequalities in the United States is the inequality regarding pay due to gender. People all over the country and even the globe are affected by this inequality. Whether it is unfairness in the workplace due to career choice influenced by gender or more specifically, job title held, payment inequalities are relevant more than ever in today’s society. In this paper I will look into the benefits and consequences of payment inequalities due to gender and recommend why salary should be equal regardless of gender. People preforming the same job duties day by day are not seeing a horizon in the equality of wage based off of work done. Rather they are seeing an inequality due to their gender. Companies with this inequality...
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...You might’ve heard that economic inequality in the United States has been rising with the richest 1% of its population percent of the countries annual income.The USA is much higher than in any other developed country in the world including the United Kingdom ,Germany Japan and etc but why is this a problem with the best majority of economist. An international organization quality is bad economy one reason being that it limits opportunities for people with lower incomes to get the education and also it is because consumers to buy the goods and services being produced or business. Service is being produced or business it would go bankrupt but it’s not like the very rich are going to buy 1 million thousand watches.Instead they land a large...
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...One of the biggest economic problems that the United States faces today is the wealth inequality that is spread throughout the country. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. How can this be solved? Why is it happening? What can I do to help? These are all questions that are asked far too often. It is said, on this topic, particularly speaking of the poor, that, “"The poor in America deserve to be poor because it is the result of choices their choices. They spend money poorly, they don't study in school, and they do not have the discipline needed to succeed." This statement sparked a lot of interest in me and really got me thinking. Do poor people really deserve to be poor? Is it really their own fault? Those are both bold statements – and I disagree completely with them both. The poor are getting poorer for the same reason people become poor in the first place: they are in a hole that is too deep to climb out of. If you ask any child if they want to be rich or poor when they grow up, 99% of them will reply by saying they want to be rich. No one wants to be poor! So why do people end up that way? I think it is because they don’t have the opportunity to become wealthy. I think a lot of the time it is because of the family that they are born in to. If your parents cannot afford to send you to a good high school...
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...Of all industrialized and advanced, countries the United States has the most unequal dispersion of income. At a time of significant economic inequality, those with more money should pay more tax than others who make less than half of their earnings, progressive taxation. The gap between CEO pay and the pay of the typical workers has risen dramatically since the Great Recession, as shown in the movie Inequality for all, the typical male worker in 1978 was making approximately $50,000 as to where the typical 1% was making about $390,000 and by 2010 the typical male worker was earning less then he did then where the person at the top earned more than twice as much as he did before. As said by Robert Reich “instead of eliminating the tax on rich people, we should increase it back to level it was in the late 1990’s” due to the fact being that the economy did well back then. When the division between both classes progresses over a precise aspect, it...
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...Environmental Inequality in the United States Introduction Minority and poor populations have been experiencing an unequal amount of exposure to various environmental hazards. The goal of this paper is investigate the situation at hand and provide an explanation to whether this treatment is ethical. Thus, in this paper, I will not only attempt to analyze reasons why these populations experience more pollution than other populations and the types of pollution that they experience, but I will also explore the solutions provided by other researchers on how to solve environmental inequalities. Previous research has been carried out to detect why most, if not all, of the polluting industries, such as power plants and waste facilities, tend to be located in minority and poor neighborhoods (Carter; Morello-Frosch; Pellow and Park; Bullard and Wright). Normally, people that live in low income neighborhoods will experience a disproportionately high amount of pollution compared to those living in high income neighborhoods (Morello-Frosch). Therefore, parks, trees, and outdoor recreational areas tend to be located in wealthy neighborhoods. Consequently, minority and poor neighborhoods tend to have the lowest ratios of parks-to-people (Carter). This means that there is a low amount of park space per 10,000 people. Other research shows that even if we ignore the level of income, minority neighborhoods, such as African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, will still experience higher levels...
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...Gender inequality means one gender will receive unequal treatment while the other gender is just fine. Feminism is the support of women’s rights in political, social, and economic equality to women. United States of America should ratify the ERA. How violence against women and risk factors that causes it. Finally, how women get treated in the workplace. Alice Paul in 1923 proposed the ERA. ERA stands for Equal Rights Amendment. Section 1 states:“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on the account of sex”(ERA). About 97% of Americans think that the Amendment had passed.“ During the 1970s, the ERA was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification, but ultimately fell three states short of becoming part of the Constitution”(Napikoski). This means that the ERA has passed, but the three states who did not want the ERA did not ratify it....
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...In a continually developing world, issues continue to come up. In the United States, the inequality between males and females have been a deep rooted issue that continues today. At this point, women are allowed to do the same jobs as men, but their pay is often lower than the males’ salaries. What I will propose to this current issue will be advantageous to families and the economy overall. The families of today will not only grow in wealth but in bonding with one another. This wealth would allow for more benefits such as paying for higher education faster, having vacations in paradises, and paying off any past debts. As for bonding, children will be able to learn and retain social skills better through the powerful bond between them and family members. I believe that this increase in social skills will allow for an improvement in the United States such so that the advancement of technology will not be followed by the decline in social skills. The availability of jobs will skyrocket which would then decrease the unemployment rate. The issue of unemployment has plagued the United States for a long while, so this sudden availability will surely decrease the issue. Not only that, the wages of said jobs will raise tremendously which would raise the living standards of workers....
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...Introduction: What is the effect of racism on healthcare inequality in the United States? Healthcare in the United States has always been a contentious issue. A good healthcare system is necessary for a society to function properly, but how to best implement it has been a subject for debate. Yet for many Americans, the main problem with healthcare in the United States intersects with another institutional problem: institutional racism. Like all other institutions in the US, implicit and explicit racism has always been a part of the healthcare system. Professionals in the healthcare system often treat African Americans and other minorities unequally and provide lower quality treatment that results in worse healthcare outcomes when compared to White...
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...There are certain countries in today’s world that are among the wealthiest nations on earth with having a high inequality than other developed countries. Inequality exists in power, wealth, income, and education. For instance, people who are socially poor in the U.S are likely to be in a cycle through life because they have not so much possibilities, education or tools to attain higher success. Poverty class has a larger income gap compared to the upper class, and the American Dream is diminished in terms of opportunity and is demonstrated by way of statistics. First of all, poverty does exist and is high in some part of the world because of the number of income and wealth that is shared in terms of power. In America for example, the income...
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...To describe the major points of the inequality between nations, I have broken the following points into specific areas of inequality. Income Inequality The need to address inequality has increased since the economic crisis including increasing levels of uncertainty and social decline within the middle class with many societies. The drivers of inequalities are globalization, skill biased technology changes and policy changes. Developing countries that embrace globalization are seeing an increase in personal incomes, extended life expectancy, and improved education systems. Gender Inequality To create new sources of economic growth and utilizing everyone’s skills we would require a breakdown of barriers in gender equality in employment, education and entrepreneurship. “Greater educational attainment has accounted for about half of the economic growth in OECD countries in the past 50 years, in large part thanks to an increase in girls reaching higher levels of education and greater gender equality in the number of years spent in school. Companies with a higher proportion of women in top management do better than others” ("Inequality - OECD," n.d.). A familiar and yet disappoint static states women earn 16% less than men, and female top-earners are paid 21%...
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...“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” –Plutarch. Inequality has been a problem for a long time, and every country has some form of inequality. It can be economic, social, and gender. Inequality is an issue, but there need to be poor for there to be rich. The problem is the gap between the rich and the poor. The distribution of wealth is too uneven. The main purpose of this essay is to address the question that many people are asking themselves: is inequality a consequence of too much or too little government intervention. The government intervenes in the economy in four ways. First, it produces public goods and services, such as education, infrastructure, national defense, and health care....
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