The United States of America may be regarded as the prized land with opportunities galore for the ambitious men and women but recent economic facts have thrown some critical issues out in the open that might change the mindset of the rest of the world about the country’s economic equality, which is gradually dividing a society that could have serious repercussions in the long-term. According to a Congressional report, the increase in incomes of the top 1% of Americans has exceeded the total income of the poorest 20%. This particular data show how a massive proportion of wealth is getting concentrated in the hands of the ultra-rich with very little being distributed among the lower sections of the society.
The income inequality in the United States of America has become a hot Presidential campaign topic with the Democrats blaming the President Bush-led Republican government of compromising local job opportunities by allowing American companies to outsource jobs overseas. According to Trudy Renwick, an economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, factors such as globalization, decline in manufacturing jobs, immigration, increase in low-wage service jobs and weakening of trade unions in addition to rising housing crisis have hurt the economic stability. Furthermore, dramatic rise in domestic and international stock markets have provided many opportunities for the rich to invest plenty of money in those institutions for a hefty return thus concentrating the wealth into a particular society.
Talking about the political side, the Democrats have promised, if they come to power next year, to make America’s rich pay a large sum in the forms of tax so that the poor could be benefited. But if we look a bit further, we would see that the problem of economic inequality is a bit more related to the country’s foreign policy. America’s frequent post 9/11 war involvements have put intense pressure on the country’s economy. Large funds get invested in America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and at a time when Washington faces stiff economic rivalries from the likes of China and India, the country must make sure that it keeps pace with the those challenges. As a developed nation, the US is expected to set trends but at the moment the land of opportunity is in danger of becoming a land of gross inequalities with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
Image Credit: Writingonthewall, Tailsinc
Source: IHT
Comments
Want to know where the money is? Go to zypcodes.com to see where the American ruling class lives, and what they wear.
IRTFW
Barack Obama forcefully outlined the failures of trickle-down economics and the need to return to an approach of shared responsibility and prosperity. His analysis echoed the work of EPI economists, who have long been tracking the negative outcomes of the on your own philosophy.
They include growing income inequality, stagnant wages, and heightened risks for workers and proposing policy solutions. The U.S. Census Bureau’s annual release of poverty, income, and health coverage held some good news for Americans, but drilling down below the surface reveals a continuing erosion of the economy for working people.
Although median household income increased slightly and the poverty rate was essentially unchanged from 2006 to 2007, incomes for working families (as opposed to retirees) actually dropped. Unbalanced U.S. trade with China since 2001 has had a devastating effect on U.S. workers.
I’ve read somewhere that between 2001 and 2007; the trade deficit lost or displaced 2.3 million jobs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including 366,000 last year. The China Trade Toll, details the devastating impact that the growing U.S. trade deficit with China is having on American jobs, wages, and key industries.
Obama is elected, I think will try to carry out his ideal socialists. The market will answer. Hillary Clinton tried ’ to socialize ’ of medical care in 1998. His plan reviewed in 2007, is the foundation of the plan of McCain. I hope that helps the country.
_______________
stock investing