Income inequality: a Slate.com series
Slate.com produced an excellent series this month about income inequality in the U.S. I haven’t had the chance to read it all, but learned a lot from the first article, which acts as an introduction.
For example, during America’s mini-booms of the ’80s and ’90s, “more than 80 percent of total increase in Americans’ income went to the top 1 percent.” While productivity increased by 20 per cent, “virtually none of the increase translated into wage growth at middle and lower incomes.”
Another interesting fact: while America is still widely considered as a land of opportunity, where merit and hard work are rewarded by promotion and higher wages, studies show that social mobility is in fact higher in countries such as Canada, Australia and the Nordic countries. Income disparity is even decreasing in Latin America, while the U.S. are following the reverse trend.
Income inequality is a major issue that needs to be addressed and that raises the question of whether democracy always leads to economic prosperity. Why is America the richest country in the world, yet still can’t get rid of an aggressive and spreading poverty? I’m looking forward to reading the subsequent articles.