Bryce Sims Poli Sci 101 5 March 2017 Poverty and Inequality in the United States Capitalism demands that “wealth is on top and debt is on the bottom” (Salon.com) Income inequality rates are higher in the United States than any other developed democracy and the rates are growing. Large corporations and the top 1% get breaks that the middle and lower class do not. Such as tax breaks‚ bailouts‚ and bankruptcy laws being loosened. It can be argued that capitalism is the number
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Therefore‚ there is traditionally a high rate of income inequality within the UK. Prior to the Great Recession of the 2000s‚ income inequality was decreasing across the United Kingdom. Indeed‚ Lipsey and Chrystal (2013) asserts that the trend of wealth inequality "was slowed‚ if not reversed‚ in the last two decades of that [the twentieth] century‚ largely because of the build up of pension in the hands of 50-70 year-olds". Wealth inequality in the United Kingdom was quite high in 2016‚ with the
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Economic inequality is a touchy subject‚ with people that view it as a good thing but most viewing it as a bad thing. In his article‚ “How income inequality benefits everybody”‚ George Will goes over why economic inequality is a good thing by going over various things that get affected when the wealthy corporations outsource jobs and products. He uses examples from an author‚ John Tamny from Forbes‚ that are pointed to give the reason why outsourcing and the rich getting richer makes prices go down
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Leonhardt’s article‚”Inequality Has Been Going On Forever...but That Doesn’t Mean It’s Inevitable”‚ illustrates the mechanisms and possible solutions to economic inequality. He starts off on a negative note‚ by emphasizing the detrimental effects that economic inequality brings for the impoverished and contrasts them with the affluent. Then‚ he introduces the fundamental principles behind the formation of economic inequality using hypotheticals to explain the disparity between the rich and poor.
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When we think of income inequality‚ we may think of it as an inevitability‚ a way of life. We may think that the rich get rich and the poor stay poor‚ because that is just “the way it is.” However‚ this is not the case. In Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times economic journalist David Leonhardt’s article from May 2014 “Inequality Has Been Going on Forever...but That Doesn’t Mean it’s inevitable‚” Leonhardt learns from French economist Thomas Piketty that income inequality occurs due to some individuals
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One prominent explanation for the discrepancy between the perceived and actual income inequality is the reference group theory (Hyman‚ 1960). Reference groups usually refer to relatively small groups such as family‚ neighborhoods‚ or regions where the individuals live. Individuals will usually compare themselves to others when evaluating their own positions. If they do not properly take into account the selection process and fail to apply the Bayes’ rule to deduce the income distribution for the
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stages of poverty and income inequality. In the 1960s and the 1970s‚ economic growth was understood for decreasing poverty. The different governments have the ability to further the process towards a “free market type economy” accomplishing economic growth. According to “The woes of economic reform: poverty and income inequality in Fiji” the influences of “economic structural adjustment policies (SAPs)” are the controversy of society today involving poverty and inequality. The poverty level has gone
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On the other hand‚ conflict theorists argue that income inequality is part of a socio-structural force lead by elites to increase their wealth and opportunity at the expense of the working and middle classes. The theory of structural functionalism‚ coined by Davis and Moore (1945)‚ asserted that stratification was necessary in society. The primary reasons given for their claims were that stratification serves a useful function of society. That is‚ not every job or task is equally important or desirable;
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In recent years there has been a surge of interest in social and economic rights and more generally in the intersection of abuses of these entitlements and forced displacement of people. Majorly ignored during the Cold War period and thereafter‚ today social and economic rights have acquired heightened significance in light of the persistence of systemic poverty in the worldwide economy often leading to violation of other civil and political rights‚ and consequent displacement of people both within
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It is argued that capitalism creates inequality. Does this matter? Why? Justify your answer This essay will argue that capitalism does create inequality. The main body of this essay will argue how capitalism creates a cut throat society that only an elite few truly benefit from. It will also discuss how capitalism and true democracy consistently contradict one and other. Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism.[1] There is
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