Inequality in America is getting worse according to top economists

[Tennis]

I'd buy a house because I'd like to actually put my "rent" money into something I can own, instead of throwing it in a fire every month.

Not everyone can afford a mortgage. That's not how the world works.

[WskyDK]

Eh, most people who do "world comparisons" in threads like these are doing it in terms of the American poor, and their message is "look how good you have it, you're in the top 10% of the world!"

It reeks of excuses, it reeks of racing to the bottom. I'm a believer in American exceptionalism, and one reason that entire concept exists in the first place is that one point in time, someone working minimum wage could save up and get a mortgage and their very own home with an acre of land. Our "poor" were much better off relatively speaking. Of course we now have modern comforts we didn't have back then, but most Americans don't get to enjoy those luxuries.

Ahhh I gotcha, should have clarified more in my original post

[Lokryn]

Well we'll never know. All we DO know is that Trump isn't doing anything about it, and doesn't seem too keen on doing anything about it, which is an issue because he promised you he'd do something about it.


That you'd let that promise slide "because Hillary probably wouldn't have done differently!" is just another example of Trump supporters not being willing to hold him to anything.

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That's an irrelevant point of comparison, seeing as the US usually likes to claim it's a more advanced country than Nicaragua or Zimbabwe.

I'm no Trump supporter but 4 months is a really short time to get the economy going. Plus, he has done something by putting in his "Buy American, Hire American" EO. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to read if it will actually help the economy though. Plus withdrawing from TPP. I know one thing, if the Republicans and Trump fail to put in a bill for infrastructure spending, I'm going to be pissed. Infrastructure spending has bipartisan support.

[igualitarist]

So, inequality was better when the government was smaller, there were less intervention on the economy and less taxation ?

Color me shocked.

[Nehezbegar]

[Linkedblade]

Well we'll never know. All we DO know is that Trump isn't doing anything about it, and doesn't seem too keen on doing anything about it, which is an issue because he promised you he'd do something about it.


That you'd let that promise slide "because Hillary probably wouldn't have done differently!" is just another example of Trump supporters not being willing to hold him to anything.

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That's an irrelevant point of comparison, seeing as the US usually likes to claim it's a more advanced country than Nicaragua or Zimbabwe.

It's an irrelevant statistic altogether. Pick one interval on the standard curve and compare it against the other. Totally meaningless.

[melodramocracy]

You can thank Friedman for this.

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Big numbers are scary. Check $25000 against the average income of the planet. It'd be significantly high compared to half the world. Who has it worse the lower class in the US or the lower class of the entire planet?

This would be interesting if the topic was world wide income. But alas.

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I'd buy a house because I'd like to actually put my "rent" money into something I can own, instead of throwing it in a fire every month.

When you can mortgage, insure, pay propery taxes / school taxes on, and reserve repair and upkeep money for a house equivalent to what you can rent a similar place for, you let me know.

[Louisa Bannon]

The difference between the average person and the wealthiest among us is that when Joe/Jane Sixpack makes an investment and loses they have to eat it raw and swallow whereas the wealthy have the taxpayer to cover the loss. If an average person had done what the banksters did just a few years back, heads would have rolled, some would have gone to prison for fraud, and still others would have lost serious money - losses from which they would not probably recover. But with how things are, the banksters are doing the exact same shit as before and making even more money today. All thanks to the bailout.

The Hamptons is not a defensible position.

[Kaleredar]

I'm no Trump supporter but 4 months is a really short time to get the economy going. Plus, he has done something by putting in his "Buy American, Hire American" EO. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to read if it will actually help the economy though. Plus withdrawing from TPP. I know one thing, if the Republicans and Trump fail to put in a bill for infrastructure spending, I'm going to be pissed. Infrastructure spending has bipartisan support.

When did Trump ever campaign on infrastructure spending?

[Ghostpanther]

Well we'll never know. All we DO know is that Trump isn't doing anything about it, and doesn't seem too keen on doing anything about it, which is an issue because he promised you he'd do something about it.




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He has not been in office for 100 days even. lol. He is not a dictator , who slam their fist on a desk and say this is how it is going to be folks. But he has already started doing several things to spur the economy more.

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When did Trump ever campaign on infrastructure spending?

He did , you never heard it maybe because you was listening for some other stuff?

[Stormspellz]

I'm sure she really cared Just like how she talk about Marriage equality after being completely against for years up until... Wow up until she wanted Votes from the very same people she was against!

It's almost as if she was a lying manipulative cunt that just said shit she thought would win her votes! Kind of like the Guy that actually Won that you seem to hate so much.

*cough* hypocrite *cough*

her being too politically convenient on many issues was actually a big issue in the primaries, not sure how you can scream hypocrite on it.

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So, inequality was better when the government was smaller, there were less intervention on the economy and less taxation ?

Color me shocked.

ya the big bad government told all those big business to be greedy cucks!!!

[Kaleredar]

Pretty sure he promised to fix our infrastructure through privatizing most of it.

That isn't infrastructure spending as much as "you'll be paying for private infrastructure"

[Barnabas]

That isn't infrastructure spending as much as "you'll be paying for private infrastructure"

You do anyway in some cases like part of your new car tag fee could go towards light rail construction that you will never use. Like the private company in washington state that is benefiting from that type of legislation. Seems less like corruption when you have a national bill that says its ok?

[Glnger]

It's gonna trickle down so hard under Trump, you don't know what to do with all that money!

Obligatory Trump pee pee fetish joke, well placed sir!

[Celista]

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/22/news...le_videocrpool





This is crazy. The bottom 50% is making 25K a year?
Half the country surviving on that? How do they even make ends meet !?!?
We need action. I can't believe people voted in the new guy who is gonna cut taxes on the rich.

Are those numbers adjusted for inflation?

[Glnger]

Are those numbers adjusted for inflation?

ofc they are...

as bullshit as CNN politics is, they certainly aren't trying to trick you with the ol' not-corrected for inflation trick.

[Celista]

(I assume the answer is yes, but making sure)

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ofc they are...

They should put that in the graphic, then.

Income is really a poor metric nowadays for gauging differences in QOL, if you want a more accurate comparison one should look at rental/housing costs, utilities and gas costs, and insurance pricing. Because all of those things have been outpacing wages for some time.

[Allybeboba]

If this election has taught me anything, it's fuck the bottom half.

What did the previous elections teach you?

[Glnger]

What did the previous elections teach you?

that as long as we allow the super wealthy to have an undue/unwarranted/unwanted influence in our politics nothing will change, before it gets ugly, and a government with trillions of dollars of fancy toys and a populace rebelling can get pretty ugly if not handled right. And seriously if you're on the right or the left what makes you think our government will come together and provide something of value in that situation that will actually be good for the general public.

luckily we have the 2nd amendment to "protect" us from a corrupt government....
/sarcasm

[Nitros14]

When you cut taxes on the "rich" (this includes big corporations) it allows them the capital to hire more employees and raise wages for their employees. This is also called reinvesting in the business to make the business grow. It helps everyone, including the stakeholders of the business.

Also lowering taxes on small businesses and reducing red tape allows them to do the same, just on a smaller scale.

Simple economic sense. Hence, the "bottom 50%" see their wages increase and increased jobs.

You sound like Reagan. How have the policies inspired by him worked for the "bottom 50%" since the 1980's?

Your assertion of what those companies do with their increased capital is in fact not what has happened. Real wages have stayed stagnant and barely moved. Job quality and the number of middle class positions have gone down. How is this accounted for since we've seen a decrease in government regulation and an increase in tax cuts for the rich since the 1980's?


Anyway, the USA is an oligarchy. Trump or Hillary is a meaningless choice if you're looking to address wealth inequality. It won't change until it hits a critical mass of discontent and dysfunction.