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Income inequality, like unemployment, is part of a functioning economy.
And like unemployment, it only becomes a problem if it gets too large.
We know that trying to equalize wages totally doesn't work. the Soviet Union and old Eastern Europe illustrated that. We also know that a system at the other extreme, where a very small number of people or families hold almost all the wealth, doesn't do very well either. Lots of African and Latin American examples of that through the last 50 years.
I dont have a problem with it. When one spends time and money etting an education or building a business they should make more money. But make it without gvmt subsidies or involvment.
I agree with this generally, though I feel that government should fund education (but they need to do it in a smarter way than they do today). I think equal opportunity makes income inequality fair.
I agree with this generally, though I feel that government should fund education. I think equal opportunity makes income inequality fair.
I dont have a problem with the education part. I have a big problem when the gvmt decides what bus needs to be propped up with fed money and what ones stand on their own.
My problen is with the guy that owns the factory and lives off the profit created by your brother and cousin without having to actually do anything.
The owner of the factory doesn't do anything?
You mean running the payroll, marketing the company to keep it vital and alive, dealing with regulations, paying insurance, safety inspections, leading the key people in the company that run each department, firing bad employees, hiring good ones, paying taxes, etc is doing nothing?
I dont have a problem with the education part. I have a big problem when the gvmt decides what bus needs to be propped up with fed money and what ones stand on their own.
Or what businesses need special loopholes in the tax codes or special exemptions in regulations.
I'm for drastically reduced taxes and drastically reduced regulations, but I have an even bigger problem with special loopholes that cause certain businesses to have an unfair advantage and other ones (mainly small businesses...and small business owners are the biggest job creators in this country) to be unable to compete fairly. The free market has to be fair to work.
Rick Santorum said this in Iowa and got lots of people angry: "I’m for income inequality. I think some people should make more than other people, because some people work harder and have better ideas and take more risk, and they should be rewarded for it. I have no problem with income inequality."
What do you think? Is he right that a logical person should believe that some people should make significantly more money than others based on how society views their contribution. Should an Accountant sitting in a comfortable office make twice what someone working road construction in the rain, heat and wind makes? Many people think the road construction worker should make more money because he is working harder than the Accountant.
So... what do you think? Do you believe in income inequality?
I believe that the severity of wealth inequality is rather great. Income inequality follows wealth inequality, but the severe problems have to do with wealth and not income.
However, my beef has more to do with how that happened, not just the fact that it happened. If I felt bankers and the financial elite had actually earned that wealth, then it wouldn't be a big deal.
However, the combination of
a. Fractional Reserve banking
b. Lack of accounting standards
c. Bailouts
d. Tax preferences
e. Regulatory capture
f. Lack of leverage constraints
has given me the impression that many, many of these folks didn't earn a damn thing. I, too, could be a billionaire, if I could just had a bank charter and could borrow billions and trillions from the Fed at obscenely low rates.
You mean running the payroll, marketing the company to keep it vital and alive, dealing with regulations, paying insurance, safety inspections, leading the key people in the company that run each department, firing bad employees, hiring good ones, paying taxes, etc is doing nothing?
Fairly obvious who has run a buss and who hasnt when reading responses.
Reminds me of an ex employee I had that complained I made more then him.
At 4:30 he was sucking down his first of his daily 20 beers. My work day was only 1/2 over.
My problen is with the guy that owns the factory and lives off the profit created by your brother and cousin without having to actually do anything.
The owners are hands on.
They employ about 700 men and women.
Without their talent for running a business (another skill level) and risk, these jobs wouldn't be there.
Why do you have a problem with people reaping rewards and profits from their ability?
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