Inequality for All Documentary Essay

Total Length: 353 words ( 1 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

People First

Inequality is one of the concerns that have been discussed at length on multiple fronts. Towards this end, some of the topics relating to inequality that have been explored in academia or on the policy front relate to, but they are not limited to; wage inequality, intergenerational income mobility, executive pay, gender pay gaps, wealth inequality, etc. Today, economists, social scientists, policy makers etc. continue to grapple with the issue of inequality. In the realm of economics, we have propositions such as trickle-down economics and middle-out economics.

In basic terms, trickle-down economics has got to do with the assumption that benefits accessed by the wealthy (such as tax breaks) are capable of being trickled down to the rest of the population. Thus, as per this school of thought, everyone in the economy benefits from the increased income of the wealthy (i.e. in terms of increased investments and job creation). An argument could, however, be put fourth that trickle-down economics does not work. As it has been pointed out in the clip, all that happens with the lowering of the top tax rate is that the “fat cats get fatter” (1:08:13).
What this means is that the benefits do not really trickle down.

According to Professor Robert Reich (1:05.35), the problem with wealth is that people will abuse it by lobbying for friendly policies to advance their interests – with the primary motivation in this case, as the professor points out, being the entrenchment of wealth. The professor is also categorical that from a historical perspective, inequality and top tax rates have an inverse relationship (1:05:54). This is to say that when tax rates on the wealthy were higher, inequality was indeed lower. The middle-out economics argument, thus, appears plausible. Middle-out economics advances the assertion that instead of trickling down from the rich, national prosperity is best secured by ensuring that the middle class thrives – meaning that the focus should be on the promotion of the income, capabilities, as well as skills of the middle class.
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https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/inequality-documentary-2175733