Dates
Rising income inequality is caused by laziness and purposeful policy decisions as proposed by the two propositions. The first proposition when people are lazy and all they do is sit idly waiting to reap where they did not sow will not solve the matter at hand. The lazier they are the poorer they become hence adding to the income inequality. Value is proportional meaning that there is no way success can go hand in hand with laziness instead hard work would. The harder one works the more promising it is for a better living hence solving the income inequality.
The second proposition on purposeful policy decision could also lead to income inequality. In this case the policies made favor the rich in society where they continue to become richer while the poor languish in poverty. This in the end widens the gap in income between the rich and the poor thus promoting income inequality. According to David Autor’s article, “Skills, education and the rise of earnings inequality among the “other 99 percent,” he identifies skills and education levels as the sources for the rising inequality.
In the education sector he points out high costs of basically attending school both at the lower and college level as a cause of income inequality as well as the availability and demand for expertise. He also names decreasing value of lowest pay, unemployment opportunities to less educated workers, competitiveness from developing countries, inadequate power of labor organizations as well as government policy as other factors resulting to rising income inequality. Ability to solve problems, carrying out assigned tasks, intuition and being creative are some of the factors that he identified to have increased the need for highly knowledgeable employees. People from different cultures should interact and promote education equality as a means of getting rid of education inequality where people get to learn about themselves as well as varied cultures, Barry Brain (2000), Culture and Equity. Autor agrees with the second proposition where suggestions to cub the rising income inequality included equity in the taxation system, acceptable minimum pay, good schools, offering support to low underpaid students and better health care.
The second proposition which is on policy decisions that favor the rich and undermine the poor has an example of Ronald Reagan’s financial deregulation as well as the Republican attacks on New Deal and Great Society social programs that financed tax cuts for the Wall Street cronies. Autor (2014) in his article talks about the continuous enactments which multiply reduced the taxation rates of the federals hence leading to increased income inequality it also resulted to underpayment of the employees with less education. The government formulates policies that taxed less from the rich thus supporting them in acquiring additional wealth and become wealthier as was the case with Wall Street while the low income households were taxed more hence becoming poorer. He also names the increase in education costs for primary, secondary and post secondary as a cause of inequality in income this is not only in the United States of America but across the world.
The second proposition names better public schools as a means of countering the rise in income inequality. With better education system people will be educated on culture as well as be knowledgeable in other fields such as education, medicine, law among other fields and hence get better jobs. With these jobs they can be able to earn adequate salaries they could also acquire the necessary skills needed in the labor market thus helping to cub the rising income inequality. Autor identifies the laws of demand and supply as the determinants of skills required in the labor market. Labor demand refers to the abilities that the employers require while labor supply is the abilities that the employees are able to offer. Help should be given to low income college students according to the second proposition as stated by Autor the less educated employees were under paid and those in college were also underpaid. In conclusion, the second proposition was more consistent than the first proposition.
References
Barry, B. (2000). Culture and Equity. Cambridge. Polity press
Autor, D. (2014). Why Has Income Inequality Been Rising Since The 1970’s: Skills, education and the rise of earnings inequality among the “other 99 percent,”, 843-851.
