Category Archives: global income inequality

Richer and Poorer

Posted on by
Reply

 

As I often remind readers, this blog is primarily concerned with three basic fiscal and economic problems facing the U.S. They are: 1) our stagnant economy, 2) our massive debt, and 3) income inequality. Today I discuss inequality. The March 16 2015 issue of the New Yorker contains an extensive article on this topic by Jill Lapore, “Richer and Poorer.” However it suffers a common defect of only presenting one side of a complex issue.
There are facts about inequality which more people need to be aware of. For example:

  • The scope of income inequality is greatly reduced once incomes are adjusted for government transfers and federal taxes as shown in the following chart from the Congressional Budget Office.
    Capture
  • There is a strong correlation between inequality and growth as shown by the second chart just below from the World Bank.
    Capture2
  • Globalization has had a dramatic effect on incomes world-wide as low skill work has shifted from the developed world to the developing world as shown in the chart below from the Wall Street Journal. Hundreds of millions of people in the developing world have been lifted out of poverty at the cost of lost jobs to low skill workers in the U.S. and other developed countries.
    Capture3Any effective strategy for decreasing income inequality needs to be reality based. Yes, it exists but its severity is exagerated. The Americans who need help the most are the ones unlikely to either attend or graduate from college. What they need most is vocational training to prepare them for the millions of high skill jobs going begging in the U.S.
    The best thing we can do to decrease income inequality in the U.S. is to get our economy growing faster. Since the end of the Great Recession in June 2009, it has grown at the historically slow rate of 2.2% of GDP and this slow rate of growth is predicted (by the CBO) to continue indefinitely under current government policies. A return to the historical 3% growth rate would create jobs and better jobs for millions of the unemployed and under-employed as well as providing bigger raises for the middle class as employers have to compete for qualified workers.
    How can we make the economy grow faster? I have addressed this critical issue many times and will return to it soon.

A Global Perspective on Income Inequality II. Where Are the Jobs?

Posted on by
Reply

 

My last post on January 23 shows vividly what the challenges are in restoring the American middle class to the prosperity which existed up until the Great Recession hit in late 2007.  The problem, of course, is the gale strength force of globalization which is lifting up low wage workers all over the developing world and creating huge competition for the many low-skilled workers in the United States.
In today’s New York Times, the former Obama Administration car czar, Steven Rattner, writes about “The Myth of Industrial Rebound” in the United States, explaining why manufacturing jobs are coming back much more slowly than other jobs.  “Manufacturing would benefit from the same reforms that would help the broader economy: restructuring of our loophole-ridden corporate tax code, new policies to bring in skilled immigrants, added spending on infrastructure and, yes, more trade agreements to encourage foreign direct investment.”
CaptureThe above chart shows the huge decline in manufacturing jobs relative to other parts of the economy such as the education and health sector as well as the professional and business sector.  Of course, these more rapidly growing service sectors are the ones benefitting from the information technology revolution.  In manufacturing, on the other hand, the low skill jobs are going overseas while the high skill jobs, using technology such as robots, are much fewer in number.
Conclusion: in order to increase manufacturing jobs in the U.S., we better government policies, as outlined above by Mr. Rattner.  But we also need to recognize that there aren’t going to be as many high skilled manufacturing jobs in the future.  We are going to need much better K-12 and post-secondary educational outcomes to prepare the middle class for the high skilled service jobs which will predominate in the future.

A Global Perspective on Income Inequality

Posted on by
Reply

 

In connection with the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, the World Bank has published a breakdown of income growth around the world, as reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal in the article “Two-Track Future Imperils Global Growth”.  The key finding, as shown in the chart below, is that it is precisely the middle class in the developed nations which saw the slowest income growth in the years from 1998-2008.
CaptureIt is clear from this chart what is going on around the world.  The top 1% makes its money from capital investments and historically the return on capital exceeds economic growth.  The next 9% are both the skilled workers and the educated professionals who are benefitting from the growth of  knowledge industry.  The medium skilled middle class in the developed world, from the 75th percentile through the 90th percentiles, are the ones who are seeing the smallest income gains.  Their jobs are being eliminated by the force of globalization which is shifting lower skilled work to lower paid workers in the developing world.
The article points out, consistent with the above chart, that the income, including benefits, of the poorest 50% in the U.S. grew 23% in this same time period.  So it really is the middle class which is hurting the most in the U.S.  There are three basic ways of addressing this problem:

  • The federal government can help by taking much stronger measures to boost the economy thereby creating more jobs as well as higher paying jobs.  Tax reform, trade expansion, immigration reform and fiscal stability are what is needed to get this job done.
  • The states can help by improving our K-12 education system to make sure that everyone acquires the basic academic skills, such as reading and math, which they will need to achieve their highest potential in life.
  • All concerned and aware individuals (such as ourselves!) must constantly beat the drums to encourage young people to stay in school and take learning seriously.

America is “exceptional” because it is the strongest, freest, and wealthiest country the world has ever known.  But our future success is by no means guaranteed.  We have to constantly work for it and earn it!