4 ms·

What would you rather have? 1) Perfect income equality (1:1 poorest:richest), but everyone is starving and most don't live out of childhood 2) Perfect income in

What would you rather have? 1) Perfect income equality (1:1 poorest:richest), but everyone is starving and most don't live out of childhood 2) Perfect income inequality (1:~infinity poorest:richest)), but the poorest in the world have a much higher standard of living and that standard is going up 3-5% a year. The point I'm driving at here is that income equality, by itself, isn't automatically desirable if the cost is a worse standard of living for the poor. It makes perfect sense that income inequality would increase due to globalization. The economic ramifications of "correct" business decisions are amplified by orders of magnitude when compared to mercantilist economies a few hundred years ago.

plandis 9y ago
Is standard of living increasing? At least in terms of wage growth adjusted for inflation that’s not true.
- sokoloff 9y ago
  Do you believe that the 25th percentile of income today has a higher standard of living than the 50th percentile person in "the golden age" of 1950? I do. Today's 25th percentile person is likely to have air conditioning, refrigeration, internet, a cell phone, a microwave oven, an HDTV, and a reliable car that needs very little routine maintenance and has air bags and antilock brakes. Today's 50th percentile is beating 1950s 75th percentile adding easy, affordable, safe, and reliable air transportation and living in a far larger house than their 1950s half-again higher counterpart. Today's 75th percentile is beating the 95th percentile in 1950. All of them have better health care options, and a longer life expectancy. Real wage growth may not have arrived for those who trade their hours for wages, but the standard of living available from those wages has risen dramatically.
Analemma_ 9y ago
Fallacy of the excluded middle much? We can (and should!) aim for a situation between the two you have described. And in any case, your proposed model isn't working: everyone else has had stagnant real wages since the 1970s. And income inequality actually is a problem even in and of itself, even without reference to absolute living standards. There's an increasing body of research that higher inequality in a society lowers happiness and increases resentment, ultimately undermining social cohesion and trust in government.
opportune 9y ago
I'll take a false dichotomy to go please

plandis 9y ago

Is standard of living increasing? At least in terms of wage growth adjusted for inflation that’s not true.

sokoloff 9y ago
Do you believe that the 25th percentile of income today has a higher standard of living than the 50th percentile person in "the golden age" of 1950? I do. Today's 25th percentile person is likely to have air conditioning, refrigeration, internet, a cell phone, a microwave oven, an HDTV, and a reliable car that needs very little routine maintenance and has air bags and antilock brakes. Today's 50th percentile is beating 1950s 75th percentile adding easy, affordable, safe, and reliable air transportation and living in a far larger house than their 1950s half-again higher counterpart. Today's 75th percentile is beating the 95th percentile in 1950. All of them have better health care options, and a longer life expectancy. Real wage growth may not have arrived for those who trade their hours for wages, but the standard of living available from those wages has risen dramatically.

Analemma_ 9y ago

Fallacy of the excluded middle much? We can (and should!) aim for a situation between the two you have described. And in any case, your proposed model isn't working: everyone else has had stagnant real wages since the 1970s. And income inequality actually is a problem even in and of itself, even without reference to absolute living standards. There's an increasing body of research that higher inequality in a society lowers happiness and increases resentment, ultimately undermining social cohesion and trust in government.

opportune 9y ago

I'll take a false dichotomy to go please