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This country used to tout itself as the bastion of upward mobility. It was our amount of poor who became middle class and the amount of middle class who became wealthy that was our evidence that capitalism worked and should be the adopted system of the world.
What happened?
In 1998 only 17% of Americans said there was not much opportunity to rise upwards; now that percentage is 41.
From 1993 to 2010, the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans grew 58 percent while the rest had a 6.4 percent bump.
. . . the United States appears at extreme ends . . . with some of the highest inequality and lowest mobility in the industrial world.
I don't know how to correct the situation, but I do know we are competing with the entire world and that we cannot afford to produce inferior students and excellence in this area is part of the solution.
I wonder what would happen to all the statistics if you send all the illegal aliens back home. The increase in population of the poor immigrant tends to pull down the averages.
This country used to tout itself as the bastion of upward mobility. It was our amount of poor who became middle class and the amount of middle class who became wealthy that was our evidence that capitalism worked and should be the adopted system of the world.
What happened?
In 1998 only 17% of Americans said there was not much opportunity to rise upwards; now that percentage is 41.
From 1993 to 2010, the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans grew 58 percent while the rest had a 6.4 percent bump.
. . . the United States appears at extreme ends . . . with some of the highest inequality and lowest mobility in the industrial world.
I don't know how to correct the situation, but I do know we are competing with the entire world and that we cannot afford to produce inferior students and excellence in this area is part of the solution.
You ask what happened? Obama happened. His mishandling of the economy going on four years now certainly hasn't helped upward mobility. And teachers' unions happened, trapping minority and working class kids in under-performing schools and handicapping their ability to compete and become successful.
We as a country have finally met the point of diminishing return. That's what I believe has happened. When you look at the past 100 years, there were all kinds of opportunities to move "upward" because we as a fledgling nation still had the plenty of capacity to expand because the "markets" had still had room for what we could concieve and produce. These days, expansion means letting illegal immigrants come in and have as many babies as they can, letting our technology be pirated, and sending our jobs to lower cost overseas locations while expecting tax revenue to flow in at past levels.
The Point of Diminishing Returns means a cutback in something (several somethings) is necessary. Contraction is what we need in order to get back to a level playing field.
You ask what happened? Obama happened. His mishandling of the economy going on four years now certainly hasn't helped upward mobility.
Good call, blaming Obama for a trend that started in the 1980's. It's called Trickle Down Economics, or Supply Side Economics, and the Republicans have been gung-ho about it since I was a kid.
That graph is worthless. GDP is a measure of output. Advances in technology anyone?
Why not post a graph of the share of wealth distribution since 1900? It clearly shows that in 110 years the average American is doing far better now than then. There are peaks and valleys, but the trend line is clear.
This country used to tout itself as the bastion of upward mobility. It was our amount of poor who became middle class and the amount of middle class who became wealthy that was our evidence that capitalism worked and should be the adopted system of the world.
What happened?
In 1998 only 17% of Americans said there was not much opportunity to rise upwards; now that percentage is 41.
From 1993 to 2010, the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans grew 58 percent while the rest had a 6.4 percent bump.
. . . the United States appears at extreme ends . . . with some of the highest inequality and lowest mobility in the industrial world.
I don't know how to correct the situation, but I do know we are competing with the entire world and that we cannot afford to produce inferior students and excellence in this area is part of the solution.
In the era of Obama, there is more thoughts of a gloomy future, and since Obama is the king of food stamps you would have to ecpect a greater gap between rich and poor; Obama's policies create more poor.
That graph is worthless. GDP is a measure of output.
It shows how gains from GDP output are not accruing to the median family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperJohn
Why not post a graph of the share of wealth distribution since 1900?
If you have it, post it. You'd need to break it down properly, though. The top 0.01%, top 0.1% of wealth (not income) are where the gains are really extreme. Top 20%, top 10%, even top 5%, you're including a lot of upper middle class people. And, if you use IRS tax data on income (not wealth distribution), it will be severely flawed by all the deductions.
so yeah, you have data that qualifies, then post it.
This country used to tout itself as the bastion of upward mobility. It was our amount of poor who became middle class and the amount of middle class who became wealthy that was our evidence that capitalism worked and should be the adopted system of the world.
What happened?
In 1998 only 17% of Americans said there was not much opportunity to rise upwards; now that percentage is 41.
From 1993 to 2010, the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans grew 58 percent while the rest had a 6.4 percent bump.
. . . the United States appears at extreme ends . . . with some of the highest inequality and lowest mobility in the industrial world.
I don't know how to correct the situation, but I do know we are competing with the entire world and that we cannot afford to produce inferior students and excellence in this area is part of the solution.
I don't know why would surprise anyone.
Don't we hear all the time that college grads make more then non grads?
The number of college grads has been increasing for years.
Is is also known that if you don't a high school diploma the chances of becoming successful are very limited.
Many are poor because they DON'T have at least a high school diploma.
Many are poor because they DON'T have at least a high school diploma.
Many are poor because they've crossed our borders illegally in the last 20 years with no education and no skills beyond physical daily labor.
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