The Price of Inequality (Preface) and The Great Divergence Chapters The Great Compression and the Great Divergence
What we know so far 1. Inequality of both Income and Wealth is the highest since World War I. 2. Raising income taxes substantially on the top 10% will not generate enough money to pay for the current entitlements plus defense plus interest on the debt. 3. We (USA, Europe, Japan) appear to have stumbled into a regime of low economic growth that exacerbates (1), (2), and social problems (in the USA, Race and Gender).
What we know so far (Cont). 4. (3) is not fully understood – the old easy money/low tax solutions do not seem to work very well any more. 5. In the USA there has been a decline in R&D by business in general and a decline in small business/entrepreneurial activity that would deal with (1) – (3). 6. USA Education: Women are more educated than men and the gap appears to be increasing.
What we know so far (Cont.) 7. USA Education: The earnings gap between college educated and high school educated is steadily increasing. 8. USA Wages: Across a broad spectrum of occupations women make less than men and Blacks make less than Whites. Asians make more than Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. 9. Assortative Mating: Women marry Men with the same income/education level. This hardens Social Class boundaries.
Stiglitz -- Preface Romney is a Bad Person!! However, the Federal Reserve Supports his major complaints!
GD Chapter 3: The Usual Suspects 1. Discrimination Against Blacks and Women 2. Greater Risk of Job Loss 3. Shifts in Marriage Patterns 4. Single Parent Households and Illegitimacy
Women and Blacks Make Less than White Males What is seldom noted is that Asian Men and Women make more than their White and Black Counterparts in every occupation.
Women are Better Educated than Men Women now make up 57% of Undergraduates in the USA and this percentage appears to be increasing.
The Rise of Assortative Mating People increasingly marry people whose incomes and/or education are roughly at the same level as their own. This tends to increase inequality.
UCLA CA Center for Population Research, WP CCPR
UCLA, CA Center for Population Research, WP CCPR
Greater Risk of Job Loss Indirect Evidence, the Rise of non- Business Bankruptcies
Marriage, Divorce, and Births to Unmarried Women Abortion is going down but Births to Unmarried Women are going up