...John Ventola Eng 101 Nov 16, 2015 Cause and Effect of Income Inequality The causes of income inequality in the United States came from many reasons and years; it affected the States a lot for generations. Researches have been made a huge topic of this subject matter. Income inequality is caused by wage growth, and values between the high and low earning workers in the states. Income inequality is getting worse according to” Thomas Sowell”, in his article “the root causes of income inequality”, he mentioned the factors that created income inequality. He talked about one of the problems is the statistics, and how it refers to a given set of people, such as the rich and poor. But in fact it refers to whoever is in a particular income bracket at a particular time. Thomas gave example of people who start out of the bottom 20 percent, over 95 percent of the people who start out there are no longer there 15 years later. In fact they reach the top 20 percent after that time period and stay at bottom of 20 percent, so the statistics are normally quoted are usually very misleading. (Thomas Sowell) In the movie “income inequality for all” by “Robert B. Reich” talked about how 5 percent of the Americans with highest income now they account 37 percent of the consumer’s purchases. He says our “United States has become unequal”. (Robert Reich) There are many causes and effects of income inequality in the United States, but I would like to discuss only three of them. Education is one...
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...average in terms of equal pay. It is a battle that continues to be fought daily; countless court cases and proposals to enact legislation. The gender wage gap in the United States, unbeknownst to many, exists and is affecting nearly half of the workforce. While there has been progress, such as the Equal Pay Act of 1964 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, women still only earn approximately 77 cents to a man’s dollar. There are many common excuses as to why the wage gap between men and women exists but several studies and extensive research reveal that women are simply paid less than their male counterparts working in the same position. Recent legislation has failed...
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...Introduction Income inequality means that the income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. It generally refers to a society which the income gap between individuals or groups and also the international wealth gap. The percentage of income to a population is often presented by income inequality. It’s also considered as the gap between the rich and others and has been obviously growing for recently years. There have measures for income inequality. It’s important to view this data sets and measures as it can show the differences of a country, especially the advantages and disadvantages. Income inequality should have a clearer data or picture to explain the differences and can be also obtained by using those measures. The “Gini Coefficient” can measure income inequality. Gini Coefficient is the way to measure the distribution of nation residents’ income. Corrado Gini (Italian statistician and sociologist) is the person who developed and published it. The among values of distribution will be measured by Gini coefficient such as income levels. If everyone has the same income, it will be shown as Zero (perfect equality) in the Gini coefficient. Conversely, if Gini coefficient shows one mean that only got one person have the income, as know as perfect inequality. In the United States, there has been growing obviously for income inequality and the gap between rich and others. According to the report of Gini coefficient, united States have the high income inequality and continuously...
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...Kinghon, Kevin A Capitalism in United States What Kind of Capitalism does Americans want? First of all, I am going to show a quick overview of the unfolding of capitalism since the Great Depression, which I believe is vital in order to understand the capitalism that exists in the United States today and some of the problems to it. Then I will look at four different complex areas of free market capitalism in America compared with the Scandinavian government control capitalism. I will then talk about what kind of capitalism we want: We being different interest groups, such as the shareholders, the C.E.O.'s, the average worker and the poor. Finally I will talk about what values might be at stake in capitalism. In the United States, the 1930s Great Depression threatened to knock out the capitalism that had been gradually developing for the past 400 years and this led to abandoning the laissez faire capitalism and instead embracing the New Deal concept of government managed capitalism in order to control money supply and government expenditure, and in order to limit the increasing gap of inequality of income. The 1950s and 1960s were decades of equality, but the energy crises of the 1970s forced the government to kick start the economy imposing new taxation benefiting the rich and once again causing widening inequality. Today, capitalism is the most important economic system of the Western world, in its however various forms: In the United States a more free-market capitalism...
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...Anthony Giovenco Political Science Inequality Paper 12-18-14 The Effects of Wealth Inequality in the United States Wealth inequality in the United States has grown tremendously since 1970. The United States continuously reveals higher rates of inequality as a result of perpetual support for free market capitalism. The high rates of wealth inequality cause the growing financial crisis to persist, lower socio-economic mobility, increase national poverty, and have adverse effects on health and well being. There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries regarding income inequality. In the latest consensus of wealth distribution, the top one percent of Americans owned thirty five percent of the nations private wealth, and the top ten percent took home about fifty percent of all income in 2012. This figure is greater than the bottom 90 percent combined. The question commonly asked concerning this matter: How and why is this becoming so quickly unequal is to be examined. First, we must explain what is meant by the term “wealth.” Wealth is the collection of the assets people own. This includes homes, stocks, savings for pension, and bank accounts, minus all existing debts. The main issue regarding wealth inequality is income inequality. Income equality has grown increasingly in the past 30 years....
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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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...Inequality in the United States In today’s American home life, the pressure of living the American dream has strained society. According to the article The Dangerous Consequences of Growing Inequality, the authors state that “a powerful consequence of growing inequality is an erosion in the amount of free time that families have.” (Collins and Yeskel 155) Though advancements have been made in the work environment, many are working harder to earn the same wages to try to keep up with the changing economy. While unemployment and debt are increasing, there has been a decline in health insurance, retirement security, and ability to earn a proper education. The United States’ gap of inequality is continuously increasing with the changing economy. Presently, many Americans are faces stresses that they did not in the past. The cost of living has risen, yet many cannot afford to maintain a comfortable lifestyle with the wages that they are receiving. The article Dangerous Consequences of Growing Inequality states, “Families continue to make up for falling wages in order to maintain a certain standard of living is by going deeper into debt.” (156) Because debt continues to grow, people are not able to save for their families. The use of credit cards has fueled this problem because people are allowed to borrow money constantly, but do not have the means to pay it back. The income of the average family should increase as the standard of living increases in order to lessen inequality...
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...Question: Compare the evolution of productivity between USA y UE during the ’80 and ’90. Trends Factors explaining the different trends racism The productivity between United States and Europe during the ’80 and ’90 are different due to several reasons. On a big scale, they both have different social models. For example, Americans and Europeans think differently about poverty, inequality, redistribution of income from the rich to the poor, social protection, and welfare. Americans believe that the poor should take care of themselves and on the other hand, Europeans believe that the government is primarily responsible to help out the poor from their poverty. Europeans consider themselves less happy when inequality increases even as many other individual and social indicators that determine a person’s happiness remain constant. Americans do not consider themselves to be less happy as inequality increases, and neither are the American poor as upset by inequality as the European rich are. Europeans freely and willingly choose to have a larger welfare state, with all associated costs in terms of taxation and regulation, because they dislike inequality. In Europe, the regulations on taxes are very strict so people contribute to paying them. As in the US, they are much easier and not much stricter on the regulation so people are much easier to find a way for not paying taxes. In my opinion, taxes are also related to racism. Since the majority/minority society exists in...
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...It is engraved in our constitution that “all men are created equal.” It is something we learn about at a young age. Yet it only states that men are created equal, not women. Many activists have been fighting for women to have equal rights and many are still fighting. Years ago, women were not allowed to vote, not allowed to hold jobs, and were simply thought of being the ones who stayed at home to be with the children. Now women can vote, have jobs, and do things men can do. With all the advancements towards equality, women seem to be taking a step back, because women are treated unfairly today. The United States Federal Government should re-ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), making sure all the 50 states accept it, because it will insure everyone will be treated equal. In this essay, I will briefly trace the history of women inequality and explain why it is a problem. Next, I will provide evidence as to how women are treated unfairly, and explain what the Equal Rights Amendment is. Lastly, I will explain how re-ratifying the ERA will guarantee equality for all, by eliminating women inequality. It has been over 100 years since the first women’s rights convention was held in 1864 and there have been so many advancements for women rights. The first Women’s Trade Union League was established in 1903, women gain the right to vote in1920, and Equal Rights Amendment was finally introduced in 1923. The ERA was what women in America were fighting for; something that would guarantee...
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...Gender Inequality in Workplace In Partial Fulfillment of the Subject Gender and Development The Philippine Women’s University Submitted by: GINEZ, ZEL A. Table of Contents Title Page 1.1 Table of Contents 1.2 Introduction 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Related Literature and Studies 1.5 Conclusion 1.6 Recommendation 1.7 References 1.8 Introduction The researcher thought about something on how to have a new knowledge about on what’s happening in a work place if it has a gender inequality. Then the researcher conducted a research and found a lot of unfair treatment happens when a workplace has a gender inequality. This is to determine the significance of having a gender inequality in the work place. It can be also a way to open the minds of the others about having a gender inequality in the work place. Some of the other people really don’t have any idea about gender inequality towards the work place. Sometimes the other people just have a knowledge only when they see or hear it on the news. This research might help the other students or individuals to be more knowledgeable about this topic. It might help the other people who is facing the same problem on their workplaces. Though you’re just a student maybe someday it can make a very big difference towards it. Questions 1. Does the other student know about gender inequality towards in a work place? 2. Does the other people really...
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...Issue of Public School Funding Ever since the beginning of the United States, the founding fathers and citizens have emphasized the importance on the education of its people, child or adult. Although education exists in this country both publicly and privately, the public school systems have become a powerful resource in many political social issues in this country. Recently, however, many debates have sprung up over issues that deal with the process of funding public education, including: Who is ultimately responsible for funding? How much funding should local, state, and federal governments contribute? How should funds be distributed? Questions such as these have been raised in the United States because of the many problems with education that are prevalent today despite funding. One of the biggest problems is inequality in education powered by property tax values. Numerous research data has shown how the unequal effects of funding from local property taxes has had on the level of education available in the same school districts. This essay will discuss if there are more fair methods to funding public schools than what is presently the norm through local property taxation and also talk about the effects that this kind of funding has on the standard of education that students receive. Each state of the United States manages its own school districts, which includes the administration of funds that pays for these school districts’ costs, with comparatively little interference...
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...Many Americans across the United States are faced with income inequality. These income inequalities have many negative effects on communities and neighborhoods. These income inequalities also have a couple positives changes as well. Only time will tell how the economic state of the middle class and lower classes will improve or continue to fall into harder times. Johnson and Rhodes state “where you live clearly affects how you grow up”, which is absolutely true (p. 387)! Those that live in poverty may also deal with school systems and other institutions such as clinics that don’t have enough funding to go around. The wealth distribution has been a continuous problem that has no simple answer, what once may have seemed like a private trouble...
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...issues as personal problems which causes them to believe the reason they are not able to do something as an individual failure instead of a structural problem. An example of a public issue that I have experienced is that I had to take a year off from attending school. I took a year off from school so I could have money to support myself. At first, I believed this was entirely a personal issue because I could not afford it. However, looking at it from a sociological viewpoint, I can now see it as a public issue because the tuition rates and cost of living continues to go up yearly. Inequality: Inequality is a built in feature within our social system. This inequality dictates the access and distribution of the commons, or the resources all people need. Inequality is mainly based on the location in which someone was born and/or what family they were born into to. An example of inequality occurred when I attempted to take a loan out on a car. While I was, able to afford the payments on a loan, I did not have credit for a long enough period of time or the down payment the bank was looking for that a person in a higher social class would have through familial ties. Iron Cage of Rationality: An iron cage of rationality is the symbolic way that people are trapped in mental cages that control the things you do. This control tells the person what they should do and does not allow any questioning as to why they must do it. An example of this is that I am attending college...
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...Gender Inequality in the Workplace Christian Johnstone DeVry University Gender Inequality in the Workplace A woman, who had spent 23 years working her way up the ranks at a Vermont plastics company, sued the company for wage discrimination. The woman began her career as a secretary at the company and eventually made her way to high-level management. The company hired a male to replace her position when she retired, offering him a starting pay of $10,000 more a year to do the same job she had been doing. The male replacement ended up not working out, so the company asked the woman to return to her previous position. However, the company still didn’t offer her the same salary that they had offered her male replacement. (Lister, n.d.) Examples that are similar to, and far worse than the one mentioned, continue to persist in this country. Women continue to be blatantly discriminated against, and held back from deserved promotions while their male counterparts rise through the ranks in corporate America. Women have made great strides in the last few decades toward gaining workplace equality. However, in a continued effort toward moving forward, there needs to be a promotion of empowerment for women and giving them the autonomy needed to manage their own lives. The reality though, is that the phenomenon referred to as the glass ceiling does exist. “The ‘glass ceiling’ can be described as an ‘invisible, but impenetrable barrier which prevents women from reaching senior positions...
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...economic inequality Maastricht University | | | | School of Business & Economics | | | | Place & date: | 18th November 2014 | | Name, initials: | Große Entrup, Carina | | ID number: | I6096321 | | Study: | International Business | | Course code: | ebc1009 | | Group number: | 46 | | Tutor name: | Emre Ergin | | Writing tutor name: | Kirsty Donald | | Writing assignment: | Main Paper (Task 10) | | number of words: | 1990 | | carina.grosseentrup@maastrichtuniversity.nl Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Government intervention 3. Government intervention to reduce income inequality 3.1 In-kind transfers 3.2 Minimum wage 3.2.1 Effects of minimum wage on labour market 3.3 Income tax 4. Conclusion 1. Introduction Although income grew by almost three percent per year for all income classes in the period from 1950 to 1980, the ones that were mostly blessed with the highest income growth were the top earners (McDowell, 2012). Income can differ enormously between the different classes of a society and the range between the top earners and those at the bottom of the society becomes larger and larger. Income inequality is a wide discussed topic by all social classes. The well earning upper-class, people who have to struggle with a minimum living wage and the shrinking middle-class, which has to worry most about its future living situation, are affected by it (Mankiw, 2012). Economic inequality can...
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