Income inequality is an interesting topic because it is essentially a two part argument. The first part of the argument centers on its very existence; it is similar to the discussion on climate change in that one side acknowledges that is a very real problem that need to be fixed, while the opposing side either denies that it is real, or believes the current system is okay as it is. Assuming that the overwhelming evidence declaring that the United States has the highest level of economic inequality of all Western nations is true, the main issue the nation should be focused on is how to fix this problem.
The clearly uninformed citizens who dismiss the idea of income inequality completely do nothing to help find a solution because they believe …show more content…
Reich attributes the past more equivalent distribution of wealth in the 1950s and 1960s to stronger unions. He comments that union membership has fallen from “more than a third of all private-sector workers belonging unions in the 1950s to fewer than 7 percent today” (Reich) and that because of this, the bargaining power of average workers has all but disappeared. According to his data, the decline of the American middle class mirrors almost exactly the decline of American labor union membership. Reich proposes a three step system to strengthen unions and to therefore lessen income inequality; “First, make it easier to form a union, with a simple majority of workers voting up or down, Second, build in real penalties on companies that violate labor laws by firing workers who try to organize a union or intimidating others. Finally… We must enact a federal law that pre-empts so-called state “right-to-work” laws.” (Reich). Currently there are delays and bureaucratic red tape which allow employers to potentially threaten to shut down and move to prevent unions from forming or run campaigns against unions. Also, though it is technically a violation of labor laws for companies to fire workers who are organizing unions, it still happens; a typical repercussion is to repay lost wages to the workers they fire, which is a trivial …show more content…
This is strongly supported by French economist Thomas Piketty, who wants to tax the rich to improve public education. He remarks that “If we want to have more growth in the future and more equitable growth in the future, we need to put more resources in the education available to the bottom 50 percent or bottom 80 percent of America”. This is referring to the basic idea that education helps prepare people for better opportunities; “there are strong correlations between education levels and income and wealth, and education can benefit more than necessarily white-collar jobs” (Sherman). However, the solution is not as simple as more education leading to less income inequality; a recent Hamilton project study led by former United States Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers simulated what would happen to the distribution of earnings if one out of every ten men aged 25–64 who did not have a bachelor’s degree were to instantly obtain one, mimicking a sizeable increase in college attainment. The results of the simulation were that “increasing the educational attainment of men without a college degree will increase their average earnings and their likelihood of being employed, [but] increasing educational attainment will not significantly change overall earnings inequality” (Hershbein). This does not discredit the idea that education would help lessen any income inequality because while the
The clearly uninformed citizens who dismiss the idea of income inequality completely do nothing to help find a solution because they believe …show more content…
Reich attributes the past more equivalent distribution of wealth in the 1950s and 1960s to stronger unions. He comments that union membership has fallen from “more than a third of all private-sector workers belonging unions in the 1950s to fewer than 7 percent today” (Reich) and that because of this, the bargaining power of average workers has all but disappeared. According to his data, the decline of the American middle class mirrors almost exactly the decline of American labor union membership. Reich proposes a three step system to strengthen unions and to therefore lessen income inequality; “First, make it easier to form a union, with a simple majority of workers voting up or down, Second, build in real penalties on companies that violate labor laws by firing workers who try to organize a union or intimidating others. Finally… We must enact a federal law that pre-empts so-called state “right-to-work” laws.” (Reich). Currently there are delays and bureaucratic red tape which allow employers to potentially threaten to shut down and move to prevent unions from forming or run campaigns against unions. Also, though it is technically a violation of labor laws for companies to fire workers who are organizing unions, it still happens; a typical repercussion is to repay lost wages to the workers they fire, which is a trivial …show more content…
This is strongly supported by French economist Thomas Piketty, who wants to tax the rich to improve public education. He remarks that “If we want to have more growth in the future and more equitable growth in the future, we need to put more resources in the education available to the bottom 50 percent or bottom 80 percent of America”. This is referring to the basic idea that education helps prepare people for better opportunities; “there are strong correlations between education levels and income and wealth, and education can benefit more than necessarily white-collar jobs” (Sherman). However, the solution is not as simple as more education leading to less income inequality; a recent Hamilton project study led by former United States Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers simulated what would happen to the distribution of earnings if one out of every ten men aged 25–64 who did not have a bachelor’s degree were to instantly obtain one, mimicking a sizeable increase in college attainment. The results of the simulation were that “increasing the educational attainment of men without a college degree will increase their average earnings and their likelihood of being employed, [but] increasing educational attainment will not significantly change overall earnings inequality” (Hershbein). This does not discredit the idea that education would help lessen any income inequality because while the