InCome InequalityWhile I found Oliver’s essay on Income Inequality to be interesting, but ultimately misguided. Throughout the entire piece I fail to how the issue of wealth redistribution matters. Oliver cited excellent research on poverty and the changing nature of the American economy and how that can cause human collateral damage but does not get to the core of the issue.
As Oliver alluded to in his piece, income inequality steams from the idea that the top earners in the United States own a disproportionate amount of wealth. When it comes to economic mobility for the average citizen this notion falls flat. It does not matter if the rich are getting richer in the United States, but rather if the individuals who earn less are better off. The progressive taxes that Oliver is pushing would also do little to help lower income earners given that the top “1%” as it were, also contribute disproportionally to the economy in the form of consumer spending and most importantly, investment. Economist such as Milton Freedman and Thomas Sowell have done excellent research in to the true drivers in the American economy. Though we are a consumption driven market, the economic multiplier from investment is far greater than consumption.
In reality, in America’s financial system for the first time, the top 1% are the real beneficiaries. As we’ve explored in the following sections, income inequality increases the more money in the form of debt, credit card debt, mortgages, car loans, etc.
Leverage for Personal Wealth, Growth
With the rise of large scale retail stores in our cities, retail has become ubiquitous. Large chains of high quality retail outlets were also created in our local areas. This can result in the “rebranding” that is taking place for many businesses and corporations that want to make more sales and the fact that a business can be successful for a long time. What is even more interesting, is that this in turn has created the potential for higher rates of inflation and higher costs of living.
This is one way that the economy has been affected by our nation’s economic recovery. A number of important factors have resulted in this. The first of which is the growth in the number of jobs and the second that the increased demand of jobs with the economy. We need the employment sector, which is responsible for at least half of our jobs, to become an important employment source in the United States. But the jobs sector which is responsible for most of GDP, the one which creates nearly 70% of total annual jobs, has also been affected by high demand from other sources like the automobile. Because the employment sector creates a lot of employment, it creates more employment than it creates per se but on a proportion of the overall economic activity that generates economic activity. This means that there are significant employment disruptions as the economy recovers. So, the employment sector is responsible for about 20% of all the economic activity and is expected to grow at an annual rate of just over three and a half times the rate of growth in GDP. In other words, if our economic strength and growth rate is high enough, one of the first things businesses do after a recession is to build out their supply chain and expand. What this does is build out new businesses. And I wouldn’t mind seeing the same kind of expansion in the housing stock and other non-housing assets. There are many of us who support a strong housing sector that is able to invest to bring affordable housing to someplace and to be able to afford it and that would benefit that individual. This creates many jobs. It also helps that this employment sector is in the process of forming new businesses and creating new resources. It therefore creates a very large supply chain so that more employment has to be created. With wages down and living standards going down, and businesses being very high end and small. The reason this is happening is that as the cost of living declines, people’s incomes and other expenses are going down, and for the average person in general. Even though the job market for the average person is declining.
Another key reason is that as the employment system becomes more widespread, demand for our jobs rises. This is why our national economic growth rate is going up. And this has been driven by high energy consumption and the increased costs of energy. It also creates the potential for additional workers to be hired for longer periods, as the supply chain of labor is expanding. And so these jobs have created a lot of jobs because companies are able to quickly hire and retain new workers. These new workers are actually starting to develop their skills and get good pay. This is especially true among the young and well educated. This is
In reality, in America’s financial system for the first time, the top 1% are the real beneficiaries. As we’ve explored in the following sections, income inequality increases the more money in the form of debt, credit card debt, mortgages, car loans, etc.
Leverage for Personal Wealth, Growth
With the rise of large scale retail stores in our cities, retail has become ubiquitous. Large chains of high quality retail outlets were also created in our local areas. This can result in the “rebranding” that is taking place for many businesses and corporations that want to make more sales and the fact that a business can be successful for a long time. What is even more interesting, is that this in turn has created the potential for higher rates of inflation and higher costs of living.
This is one way that the economy has been affected by our nation’s economic recovery. A number of important factors have resulted in this. The first of which is the growth in the number of jobs and the second that the increased demand of jobs with the economy. We need the employment sector, which is responsible for at least half of our jobs, to become an important employment source in the United States. But the jobs sector which is responsible for most of GDP, the one which creates nearly 70% of total annual jobs, has also been affected by high demand from other sources like the automobile. Because the employment sector creates a lot of employment, it creates more employment than it creates per se but on a proportion of the overall economic activity that generates economic activity. This means that there are significant employment disruptions as the economy recovers. So, the employment sector is responsible for about 20% of all the economic activity and is expected to grow at an annual rate of just over three and a half times the rate of growth in GDP. In other words, if our economic strength and growth rate is high enough, one of the first things businesses do after a recession is to build out their supply chain and expand. What this does is build out new businesses. And I wouldn’t mind seeing the same kind of expansion in the housing stock and other non-housing assets. There are many of us who support a strong housing sector that is able to invest to bring affordable housing to someplace and to be able to afford it and that would benefit that individual. This creates many jobs. It also helps that this employment sector is in the process of forming new businesses and creating new resources. It therefore creates a very large supply chain so that more employment has to be created. With wages down and living standards going down, and businesses being very high end and small. The reason this is happening is that as the cost of living declines, people’s incomes and other expenses are going down, and for the average person in general. Even though the job market for the average person is declining.
Another key reason is that as the employment system becomes more widespread, demand for our jobs rises. This is why our national economic growth rate is going up. And this has been driven by high energy consumption and the increased costs of energy. It also creates the potential for additional workers to be hired for longer periods, as the supply chain of labor is expanding. And so these jobs have created a lot of jobs because companies are able to quickly hire and retain new workers. These new workers are actually starting to develop their skills and get good pay. This is especially true among the young and well educated. This is
Overall, while I enjoyed passages from Oliver’s essay, it did not make much sense to me given his narrative thrust. However, if Oliver were to position the essay in a direction of how to best understand and mitigate poverty, it would be a much stronger rhetorical piece.