Inequality Undermines Democracy By Eduardo Porter Summary

Income Inequality or “wage gap” is a big topic for freedom fighters and liberals for the simple fact that it isn’t equal for everyone. Because the wage gap is so prominent it's one of the biggest “facts” that discrimination is still apart of everyday American society. The wage gap from these radical interest groups think the economy is get a dollar take a dollar instead of a free flow economy. This misguided idea of the economy is absolutely not true and isn’t at the fault of the Government, but the people.

The article “Confronting Inequality,” written by Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University, emphasizes that the middle class suffers from social inequality and economic inequality. Krugman suggests building a stronger safety net so the gap between the poor and rich can be limited to by raising of the taxes. Krugman uses this claim to highlight the fact that the middle class needs to be stronger and the only way to achieve that is to have a strong safety net. Krugman says the rich use loopholes in the tax system to cheat their way out of high taxes, and the poor pay a relatively high tax compared to what they should be paying. Krugman states if these ideas were incorporated into society, it would link the gap between

“The Dangerous Consequences of Growing Inequality” was written by author Chuck Collins in 2005. The main thesis of the essay was that a greater amount of inequality causes us to undermine the values of society, along with consequences that affect an indivual’s life. Collins expands on his main point by splitting up the consequences into different categories. To be more specific, he gives different examples on how the growing inequality impacts society, and more specifically, our culture, economy, social order, and democracy.

Paul Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton, writes “Confronting Inequality” chapter 7 in his book. Equality in America is what makes America, what it stands for. Social and economic inequality still is a part of everyday life in America. Education is making parents struggle because they want to give them a good education; but also, health care for those who need it. Middle-class starts to scramble more every day while the high-class gets more prosperous. Inequality in America is creating trouble to the lives of Americans.

The problem with the widened wealth gap is that the inequality may harm the quality. Meaning that those in the higher classes see it as you can use the money with no restrictions. However, economist believe that the “relationship between inequality and economic freedom, with the possibility that policies that are meant to reduce inequality will reduce economic freedom, which will then only make inequality worse.”

The article “The Death of Horatio Alger” By Paul Krugman Dives into the cruel story of america not being the land of opportunity we once knew and loved. The article goes straight into it by starting with our nation's history of inequality going all the way back to the 1940s. Krugman then goes from there going into times when economic mobility was easiest to when it was hardest to now. To sum up what he says is the now our class mobility is at a all time low and if that was not bad enough apparently our politicians are “doing everything they can to fortify class inequality, while denouncing anyone who complains”(Krugman) the article covers what a politician with this goal would do as in what policy they would work to implement and more. The

Paul Krugman author of the article “Confronting Inequality” stresses the inequality of our social classes in the United States, he uses statistics to demonstrate the staggering consequences of this inequality within our social classes. Krugman emphasizes the fact that a majority of our wealth is owned by about one percent of the population, which is leaving the middle and lower class at an extreme disadvantage. One example Krugman uses is education; children that have wealthy families, have a higher percentage of finishing college than those of lower income families, proving the statement that Krugman was accentuating, “Class-inherited class- usually trumps talent.” The parents within this middle to lower class have been exceed their financial

In America after World War Two, citizens were split between classes based on their economic stability. Americans today still look at these classes and define these people as better off or worse off than the next person. Why do people judge others for having less money than them? Why do employers send lower class citizen away when they need the money the most? These are some question that citizens in the lower or middle class have when they are looking at their position in America’s economic system. Research shows that lower class citizens face more hardships to better their lives than those who are more stable.

Income inequality might be the biggest problem our new president will face. There are many reasons why it’s a problem in America. Income is a difference in opportunity chances if you have more money you have a better chance of getting a better job. Examples of income is are food drives in schools some people with income have trouble going to places like school, job, or stores when needed. There are many more problems than this. Income inequality is still a problem in America, but there are ways to fight against it.

In the article “Confronting Inequality” by Paul Krugman it explains how and why large changes between wages of wealth and the problems between the social classes. America's middle class in today’s society are exceeding their limits in effort to give their children opportunities many middle class parents did not have themselves. Ways that many middle class parents are doing this is by buying homes that they can't afford; this is so their children will be able to attend a good school. Another reason why middle class parent are doing this so that their children can have more opportunities to one day slow the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. Another reason that inequality between the classes is important Krugman believes is because

“The bottom 40% of Americans own almost nothing.” Said the video, Wealth Inequality In America. The lower class are scraping by and are not able to invest in stocks or other consuming items whether it deal with money or time. The video, Wealth Inequality in America also said, “The top 20% of Americans own almost everything.” The wealthy community should contribute more to the lower class, allowing more equality of wealth.

Our newest civil rights struggle is the income gap between the rich and the poor. Many call a solution to this socialism but without a problem there would be no need for a solution. Tax cuts have enables the richest people to keep almost 99% of their annual income. This has weakened our social security and created an income gap while they pay for almost 50% of the tax revenues in the United States. They have not paid their fair share is almost twenty years. Showing a fundamental problem. Not only has a gap been made but the citizens of the United States of America have be subjected to poverty and low class

Inequality has been around since man first started to gather in groups. Since the time of the hunter gathers into the middle ages. Today in the United States inequality is worse than it has ever been, even with the significant dip between the 1940s and the 1970s. The increase in inequality is not limited to the United States but it is happening the fastest here. We have to look at the different factors that have played a role in the increase which are: technology, the decline in manufacturing and increase in globalization, and government policy.

In March of 2015, Jill Lepore wrote an article tittle “Richer or Poorer” that was published in The New Yorker. The author wrote about the inequality American, she mainly focused on the money side of the inequality. She uses many great sources to back up her evidence like statistics and books by famous authors.

Hedrick Smith begins his book by positing that “the gravest challenge and most corrosive fault line in our society is the gross inequality of income and wealth in America”. He refers to