Who Has Economic Mobility? Everyone!
Share
Share
Trending
Economic mobility is very critical in the United States. This determines whether Americans prosper or not; whether or not they are able to reap the God-given talents and skills to benefit themselves and those around them. It can be considered a metric of American Exceptionalism. Wehner and Beschel articulate this point very well when they state that:
A far better way to mitigate inequality is to increase opportunity. Indeed, social mobility is the central moral promise of American economic life; the hallmark of our system is the potential for advancement and greater prosperity rooted in merit and hard work, rather than in the circumstances of one’s birth.[1]
The War On Poverty’s Results
Share
Share
Trending
Data shows income inequality hasn’t changed over the past 100 years, and the three key wealth indicators are: productivity improvement (which has improved dramatically), income mobility, and personal well-being. “While income inequality is rising, inequality of personal well-being is dropping.”[1] George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen explains further:
[T]he inequality of personal well-being is sharply
down over the past hundred years and perhaps over the past twenty years as well. Bill Gates is much, much richer than I am, yet it is not obvious that he is much happier if, indeed, he is happier at all. I have access to penicillin, air travel, good cheap food, the Internet and virtually all of the technical innovations that Gates does. Like the vast majority of Americans….our health outcomes are in the same ballpark. I don’t have a private jet or take luxury vacations, and – I think it is fair to say
Income And Well-Being
Share
Trending
The History Of Income Inequality And Popping Economic Bubbles), and the three key wealth indicators are: productivity improvement, (which has improved dramatically), income mobility, and personal well-being. “While income inequality is rising, inequality of personal well-being is dropping.”[1] George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen explains further:
[T]he inequality of personal well-being is sharply
down over the past hundred years and perhaps over the past twenty years as well. Bill Gates is much, much richer than I am, yet it is not obvious that he is much happier if, indeed, he is happier at all. I have access to penicillin, air travel, good cheap food, the Internet and virtually all of the technical innovations that Gates does. Like the vast majority of Americans….our health outcomes are in the same ballpark. I don’t have a private jet or take luxury vacations, and – I think it is fair to say – my house
The History Of Income Inequality And Popping Economic Bubbles
Share
Share
Source: AP Photo/Elise Amendola
In a significant study by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, they explain the economic impact historically on capital and upper income Americans:
We find that top capital incomes were severely hit by major shocks in the first part of the century. The post-World War I depression and the Great Depression destroyed many businesses and thus significantly reduced top capital incomes. The wars generated large fiscal shocks, especially in the corporate sector that mechanically reduced distributions to stockholders. We argue that top capital incomes were never able to fully recover from these shocks, probably because of the dynamic effects of progressive taxation on capital accumulation and wealth inequality. We also show that top wage shares were flat from the 1920s until 1940 and dropped precipitously during the war. Top wage shares have started to recov