Clipmarks | dmegivern's 'inequality' clips

More Americans Say U.S. Split into Haves/Have-Nots

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:13:29 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

More Americans Say U.S. a Nation of Haves and Have-Nots

Half now say it is, up from 37% four years ago

PRINCETON, NJ -- Along with their mounting concerns about national economic conditions in recent years, Americans have grown more likely to perceive structural economic inequality in the country. Nearly half of Americans, 49%, now say the nation is divided into two groups: the "haves" and the "have-nots." This is up from 45% two years ago, and from 37% in June 2004.

At the same time that more Americans see an economic class divide in the country, the percentage of Americans holding a profoundly negative view of the U.S. economy has jumped sharply, from 41% in June 2004 to 55% in June 2006 to 84% in June 2008.

Tags: inequality

Welcome to Richistan, USA

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:23:05 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

Welcome to Richistan, USA

The American Dream of riches for all is turning into a nightmare of inequality. But a backlash is brewing, reports Paul Harris in New York

As the rest of the country struggles to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a parallel world. The rich now live in their own world of private education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own schools and their own banks. They even travel apart - creating a booming industry of private jets and yachts. Their world now has a name, thanks to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank which has dubbed it 'Richistan'. There every dream can come true. But for the American Dream itself - which promises everyone can join the elite - the emergence of Richistan is a mixed blessing. 'We in America are heading towards 'developing nation' levels of inequality.

· 'Affluent' is Richistani for 'not really rich'. According to Frank, you need about $10m to be considered entry-level rich.

Tags: wealth, class, inequality

Parts of the United States As Poor as Third World

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:24:47 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World, according to a shocking United Nations report on global inequality.

The annual Human Development Report normally concerns itself with the Third World, but the 2005 edition scrutinises inequalities in health provision inside the US as part of a survey of how inequality worldwide is retarding the eradication of poverty.

It reveals that the infant mortality rate has been rising in the US for the past five years - and is now the same as Malaysia. America's black children are twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday.

Although the US leads the world in healthcare spending - per head of population it spends twice what other rich OECD nations spend on average, 13 per cent of its national income - this high level goes disproportionately on the care of white Americans. It has not been targeted to eradicate large disparities in infant death rates based on race, wealth and state of residence.

Tags: inequality, poverty, u.s.

Extreme Rich-Poor Divides

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:52:30 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: From Digg, this website features photos of inequality around the world. In the U.S., the border between Detroit and Gross Pointe, MI is very

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

here’s a quick selection of shocking photos / google maps links to start the day. they all illustrate an extreme degree of wealth divide in different parts of the world.

Tags: photos, inequality

Socioeconomic Class in America

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:44:41 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Barbara Ehrenreich walks readers through social class in the US as she has studied it.

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

A Guided Tour of Class in America

BE: There still is a real big earnings gap between college and non-college graduates, but it's begun to shrink. Jared tells me that the reason it was growing so fast in the nineties was not that college graduates were doing so well, but that low-wage people, blue-collar people, were doing so poorly. Their wages were being held down -- and that remains true.

TE: For people I've known, leaping classes tended to be a complicated, painful experience.

BE: Both chronic, long-term poverty and downward mobility from the middle class are in the same category of things that America likes not to think about. Periodically, we'll have some little focus on poverty, like post-Katrina, but then it goes away again.

I couldn't get over it, how beaten down people were, how they had internalized obedience. The fear of standing out in any way that might be noticed seemed to grip them.

Tags: ses, social.class, usa, inequality

UK inequality at 40 year high

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:51:34 GMT

clipped by: sunbeam

Clip Source: www.jrf.org.uk

New poverty and wealth maps of Britain reveal inequality to be at 40-year high

A new way of comparing poverty and wealth trends across Britain shows inequality has reached levels not seen for over 40 years. This is according to research released today (17 July) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A second report, published simultaneously, has found that the public believes the gap between rich and poor people is too large.

households in already-wealthy areas have tended to become disproportionately wealthier and that many rich people live in areas segregated from the rest of society. At the same time, more households have become poor over the last 15 years, but fewer are very poor.

the report contains comprehensive maps which are based on census and survey data illustrating the changes in poverty and wealth across Britain from 1968 to 2005.

It found that over the last 20 years, a large and enduring majority of people have considered the gap between high and low incomes too large.

Tags: poverty, wealth, inequality, uk, census, attitude survey

Back to the Era of the Robber Barons

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:57:42 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: Recently, David Brooks of the New York Times, tried to ignorantly argue that inequality was slowing down. Here are some facts from an actual economist.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Thy Neighbor’s Stash

Frank notes that “many of the forces that have been causing inequality to grow seem to be gathering steam.” Because the gains have been so lopsided — the richest 1 percent have seen their share of national income rise from 8.2 percent in 1980 to 17.4 percent in 2005 — even the merely rich are having to overextend themselves just to keep up. “As incomes continue to grow at the top and stagnate elsewhere, we will see even more of our national income devoted to luxury goods, the main effect of which will be to raise the bar that defines what counts as luxury.”

Between 1949 and 1979, the rising tide of the American economy lifted all boats more or less equally. In fact, the incomes of the bottom 80 percent grew more rapidly than the incomes of the top 1 percent, and those of the bottom 20 percent grew most rapidly of all. But since 1979, gains have flowed disproportionately to top earners.

Tags: inequality, usa

Slavery and JP Morgan Chase

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:58:54 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern
clipper's remarks: You inherit what your ancestors experienced, both the rich and the poor. If people enslave your family, you inherit the aftermath. Why not apologize for being the beneficiary of slavery, even if the benefit may be diluted through the generations?

Clip Source: academic.udayton.edu

Many insurance companies practiced the writing of slave life insurance policies in 19th Century United States. The effect of this practice was to provide the financial backing necessary to give potential slave owners motivation to purchase human chattel – a very expensive investment. The policies gave slave owners the security necessary to employ enslaved Africans in ultra-hazardous capacities.

If there is no connection between JP Morgan Chase and slavery, what do we make of the circular from Aetna’s archives? What about the $2.5 million capital investment advertised in the 1852 circular – what became of that? Also, would fifty-five bankers, doctors, insurers, shippers, and others advertise a venture that was never launched?

Tags: slavery, profiteering, inequality, privilege