Mother Jones points out the growing income inequality in America. They use eight interesting charts and graphs in their presentation. The one below shows that most of the increases in income went to the top 1% and top 20% of households.
Much of this is due to the internationalization of the world economy. Our educated folks who create much of our wealth have benefited from our corporations expansion into the rest of the world. Our folks who are in manufacturing have been badly impacted, since they are competing with very low wage countries who are making so many things cheaply.
Government workers have been insulated from many of these changes. But now governments must cut back drastically, and government employees will also share the cuts.
What to do about it? The Democrats say increase subsidies to the poor. The Republicans say no to that - they want to grow the economy to resolve these issues.
How many more years will our production class folks suffer? Probably for a very long time. China, India, and numerous other poor countries are making fast strides in manufacturing. And they have an enormous number of people who will be glad to take low wage jobs, which are still a big step up for them.
Not an easy problem.
Much of this is due to the internationalization of the world economy. Our educated folks who create much of our wealth have benefited from our corporations expansion into the rest of the world. Our folks who are in manufacturing have been badly impacted, since they are competing with very low wage countries who are making so many things cheaply.
Government workers have been insulated from many of these changes. But now governments must cut back drastically, and government employees will also share the cuts.
What to do about it? The Democrats say increase subsidies to the poor. The Republicans say no to that - they want to grow the economy to resolve these issues.
How many more years will our production class folks suffer? Probably for a very long time. China, India, and numerous other poor countries are making fast strides in manufacturing. And they have an enormous number of people who will be glad to take low wage jobs, which are still a big step up for them.
Not an easy problem.
1 comment:
Perhaps we could put more value on people who put in an honest days work even if they are not white collar elites. I have known a lot of people who were housekeepers, cooks, janitors, even dishwashers who were dedicated and worked very hard. The problem is our society does not value unskilled labor no matter how hard these people work. I know the answer is that they should get more education and improve their skills but this may not be possible for everyone. There is also a possibility that better wages for low income earners would go back into the economy and create more jobs for all.
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