Income Inequality In America

1129 Words3 Pages

The top 1 percent of Americans take home 22.5 percent of the entire nation’s income—almost a quarter of the total earnings (Desilver). This amusing fact can be perfectly summarized in two simple words: income inequality. Lately, income inequality in the United States of America has been at its peak, which is the reason why it became a controversy in the last few years. The problem, though, resides in the fact that it has taken a lot of time for Americans to understand the disastrous effects that this issue can create—and is creating—in their economy. Robert H. Frank and Paul Krugman both wrote about the increasing problem that income inequality is, and both agree that there is still time to solve the issue. Likewise, Constance M. Ruzich and …show more content…

First, Frank states, “So maybe we should just agree that it [income inequality] is a bad thing—and try to do something about it”. Along the same lines as what Herbert said, Frank claims that before anything else, Americans first need to concede the level of gravity that this income issue has. On the other hand, Krugman gives more concrete solutions to the problem. For instance, Krugman explains that a series of government regulations to the tax systems must be made; among this are the removal of tax cuts and tax loopholes, and the increase of taxes to the highest paid citizens (595-98). In short, Krugman wants the government to start heavily taxing the huge companies and the wealthy citizens in order to create a balance for the middle class citizens. On top of that, Krugman asserts that “minimum wage increases…do not lead to significant job losses” (600), which means that an increase in the minimum wage can also be a solution to eradicate income inequality. Furthermore, Herbert increases the list of solutions when he claims, “the U.S. needs to develop a full-employment economy that provides jobs for all who want to work at pay…” (565). In other words, Herbert is assuring that an increase in the amount of jobs will result into a better economy for the country. Naturally, any well taught solution that results into the disappearance of income inequality should be taken into account by the American government in order to enhance its

Open Document