4 ms·
It’s kind of incredible that we now treat income inequality as this impossible to tackle problem with insurmountable difficulties, as if we don’t have over a ce
by ashtonkem 5y ago
It’s kind of incredible that we now treat income inequality as this impossible to tackle problem with insurmountable difficulties, as if we don’t have over a century of experience of how policies can increase and decrease inequality in this country, let alone in other countries. We’ve literally done this before.
- dnautics 5y agoDo we? When was the last time a country decreased its Gini coefficient?
- ashtonkem 5y agoThe period between 1945 and 1970 in the United States really stands out. Improving wages, narrowing gap of health outcomes across racial groups. It wasn’t a perfect time, but clearly metrics were getting better. Conversely, we can observe the effects of policy since the 1970s and declare it to be a failure. Despite long periods of economic growth, income inequality continues to grow.
- dnautics 5y agothere's also a similar period between 1850 and 1920, and 1850 and 1900 in sweden. IIRC (i could be wrong on this) even the nordics with their progressive redistibution policies aren't actually decreasing their gini coefficients, it's just static. Also IIRC the US improved it's gini coefficient for the one year 2009? 2008?; a lot of rich people suddenly got less rich until they got bailed out.
- kansface 5y agoPost war America was a truly unique time and place. Literally the entire industrial world was destroyed apart from the US. I’m not so quick to blame bad policy. The world was going to catch up eventually and start competing, right?
- hotpotamus 5y agoI've found that American Exceptionalism is now defined as things we cannot do rather than things we can. Look at problems like gun violence or access to affordable health care. You'll be told that it is impossible for America to solve these problems that most other advanced countries have long had solutions to.