The Ever Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor Can Not Be Bridged. Essay Example
The ever widening gap between rich and poor can not be bridged. Why do some nations become rich while others remain poor? Traditional mainstream economic growth theory has done little to answer this question—during most of the twentieth century the theory focused on models that assumed growth was a simple function of labor, capital, and technology.
Economic inequality is growing in the world’s richest countries, and the gap between rich and poor has widened over the last 20 years in nearly all the countries studied, even as trade and technological advances have spurred rapid growth in their economies.
According to the economist Anthony Atkinson, the United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000. France, meanwhile, has seen inequalities fall in the past 20 years as poorer workers are better paid. Rising inequality threatens social mobility — children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work — which is lower in countries like the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, where inequality is high, than countries with less inequality such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia, the report said. In a 20-year study countries, economist found inequality had increased in 27 of its 30 members as top earners’ incomes soared while others’ stagnated.
Wealthy households are not only widening the gap with the poor, but in countries such as the U.S., Canada and Germany they are also leaving middle-income earners further behind, with potentially ominous consequences if the global financial crisis sparks a long recession.
Atkinson said governments need to act to support employment as a response to widening inequality and faltering economies.“Greater income inequality stifles upward mobility between generations, making it harder for talented and hardworking people to get the rewards they deserve,” he said in a statement. “It polarizes societies, it divides regions
Economic inequality is growing in the world’s richest countries, and the gap between rich and poor has widened over the last 20 years in nearly all the countries studied, even as trade and technological advances have spurred rapid growth in their economies.
According to the economist Anthony Atkinson, the United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000. France, meanwhile, has seen inequalities fall in the past 20 years as poorer workers are better paid. Rising inequality threatens social mobility — children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work — which is lower in countries like the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, where inequality is high, than countries with less inequality such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia, the report said. In a 20-year study countries, economist found inequality had increased in 27 of its 30 members as top earners’ incomes soared while others’ stagnated.
Wealthy households are not only widening the gap with the poor, but in countries such as the U.S., Canada and Germany they are also leaving middle-income earners further behind, with potentially ominous consequences if the global financial crisis sparks a long recession.
Atkinson said governments need to act to support employment as a response to widening inequality and faltering economies.“Greater income inequality stifles upward mobility between generations, making it harder for talented and hardworking people to get the rewards they deserve,” he said in a statement. “It polarizes societies, it divides regions