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Wealth Distribution In America Essay

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Changes in Wealth Distribution in America – 1950 to Present
All of us know and have used to the idea that it’s obvious some people are rich while others are poor because it has been so for many centuries even when people didn’t have any knowledge on economy or finance. It’s impossible not feeling sorry for and wanting to help those who benefited less and poor (bottom 99%) or not feeling envy when talking about those who are wealthy (top 1%). It is the result of unequal wealth distribution among population, it is often called wealth gap. This essay will analyze the rate of changes of wealth distribution in the US since 1950s, try to explain its reasons and give recommendations on fixing the raising wealth gap between the poor and the rich. Nowadays the middle class is disappearing as people becoming too poor while some are getting too rich.
Distribution of wealth is the amount of wealth that various groups or …show more content…

1992-2010 data from Wolff (2012).
Table 3 represents the share of wealth held by the bottom 99% and top 1% in the United States from 1949 to 2010. Change of wealth distribution is not favorable for the bottom 99% as this class obtaining less and less wealth while the top 1%’s wealth is expanding. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. This factor has not only economic drawbacks but social problems are increasing at the same time (Kennickel, 2003). It leads to crimes and unsafety.
Wealth inequality in America is increasing specially after the Great Recession of 2008 (Kenworthy & Smeeding, 2013; Allegretto, 2011). “The wealthiest 1% of U.S. households had net worth that was 225 times greater than the median or typical household’s net worth in 2009” (Allegretto, 2011). John Slater (2015) suggests that top 1% will gain more wealth than bottom 99% in 2016 if the government doesn’t take any measures to prevent it.

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