Wealth Inequality Of The United States - 1216 Words

Wealth in the United States is generally thought to be distributed fairly as the highest earners have a higher percentage of wealth. Although this common notion is technically correct, the wealth is not spread as fairly as people might believe. The United States uses a free market, capitalistic economy, which entails wealth inequality. However, the amount of wealth inequality depends on how the government limits the wealthy. Interestingly enough, the government does not have regulations to distribute the wealth more fairly as the top 1% of earners in the United States own about 40% of the financial wealth in the country and the bottom 80% of earners own a measly 4.7%. Astonishingly, the financial wealth for the top 20% increased from 1983 to 2010 meaning the wealth became more concentrated at the higher socioeconomic tiers as time passed. These economic inequalities benefited the wealthy as they gained political powers, controlled a large portion of the economic market, and used capi talism to manipulate the public’s perspective of the wealth distribution in the United States. While wealth inequality is a result of capitalism, extremely wealthy people use their wealth to exercise political power,but the average person does not understand that this is a corrupt method of crippling the economy in favor of the ultra wealthy. To begin, the wealthiest earners in the United States have more power politically and economically than the rest of the population. To illustrate theShow MoreRelatedWealth Inequality Of The United States1283 Words   |  6 Pages Wealth Inequality According to Inequality.org, â€Å"We equate wealth with ‘net worth,’ the sum total of your assets minus liabilities. Assets can include everything from an owned personal residence and cash in savings accounts to investments in stocks/bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts. Liabilities cover what a household owes: a car loan, credit card balance, student loan, mortgage, or any other bill yet to be paid. In the United States, wealth inequality runs even more pronounced than incomeRead MoreImpact Of Wealth Inequality On The United States1220 Words   |  5 PagesImpacts of Wealth Inequality Wealth in the United States is generally thought to be spread fairly as the highest earners have a higher percentage of wealth. Although this common notion is technically correct, the wealth is not spread as fairly as people might believe. The United States uses a free market, capitalistic economy, which entails wealth inequality. However, the amount of wealth inequality depends on how the government limits the wealthy. Interestingly enough, the government does not haveRead MoreThe United States Wealth Inequality Gap1369 Words   |  6 Pagesso many people dealing with poverty and the challenges that arise from trying to escape it. The United States wealth inequality gap is one of the largest gaps in the world. According to the article Causes of Poverty by Anup Shah, â€Å" Almost half the world, over 3 billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.† This gap is due to the fact that globalization and globalRead MoreWealth Distribution and William Domhoffs Wealth, Income, and Power1193 Words   |  5 PagesIn William Domhoff’s article, Wealth, Income, and Power, he examines wealth distribution in the United States, specifically financial inequality. He concludes that the wealthiest 10% of the United States effectively owns America, and that this is due in large part to an increase in unequal distribution of wealth between 1983 and 2004. Domhoff also states that the unequal wealth distribution is due in large part to tax cuts for the wealthy and the defeat of labor unions. Most of Domhoff’s informationRead MoreEconomic Inequality And Its Effects On Economic Growth1709 Words   |  7 Pageseconomic inequality. Over the past decades, economic inequality has been rising and at an increasing rate, expanding the gap between the rich and the poor. The direct relationship between inequality and poverty has shown that while inequality increases, so too does poverty. Increased inequality is harmful for economic growth and its effects also bear social implications. Although there are arguments on the consequences of wealth redistribution and its unintended impact on economic growth, wealth shouldRead MoreThe Effects of Wealth Inequality in the U.S.1484 Words   |  6 PagesAnthony Giovenco Political Science Inequality Paper 12-18-14 The Effects of Wealth Inequality in the United States Wealth inequality in the United States has grown tremendously since 1970. The United States continuously reveals higher rates of inequality as a result of perpetual support for free market capitalism. The high rates of wealth inequality cause the growing financial crisis to persist, lower socio-economic mobility, increase national poverty, and have adverse effects on health andRead MoreThe Distribution of Wealth 1542 Words   |  6 PagesDramatic facts surround the nature of the distribution of wealth becoming more concentrated during the period between 1983 and 2004. In good parts of the period, labor unions were defeated and implementation of tax cuts for the rich took place. 42% of the entire financial wealth generated by the economy of the United States during the 21-year period went to the richest 1%. The Current Statistical Trends of the Wealth Inequality in the United States Before the onset of the 2007/2008 global financialRead MoreA Clip Of Jon Stewart And His Satire908 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The United States of America is not a third world country. . .except perhaps income inequality where we rank worse than the Ivory Coast, worse than Cameroon† (Inequality for All). A clip of Jon Stewart and his satire was featured during the opening minutes of the documentary Inequality for All. Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration, is the centerpiece of the film, describing and explaining the growing income inequality in the United States and the effect it hasRead MorePoverty And The American Dream933 Words   |  4 PagesThe Inequality gap in America has increased for the past few decades. Resulting from Economic Inequality in America, 400 Americans share more than 50% of America’s total wealth. These 400 Americans are the Top 1%. While the Top 1% are living luxurious lives, the Bottom 99% is struggling to make ends meet. Inequality is nothing new to the United States. In fact, it is a serious problem for America’s Economy, Democracy and the Middle Class. Economic Inequality is the thing that makes the United StatesRead MoreEconomic Inequality And Political Inequality1647 Words   |  7 PagesEconomic inequality, also known as income inequality, is the interval between the rich and the poor. Economic inequality refers to how the total wealth in the United States is distributed among people in a social class. It is needed and it is important but due to the major gap difference, it affects the Democratic Party and in addition, it also affects Americans because they do not understand the actual wealth distribution. It is a major issue in the United States because it affects other economic