5 ms·

Why inequality is growing in the US and around the world (Jan 2023)

27 points by DemiGuru 3y ago

lapcat 3y ago
Published: November 1, 2022 8.45am EDT Updated: January 2, 2023 11.05am EST > In the United States, the 10% earning the highest incomes take home nearly half of all income and the richest 10% of all households own more than 70% of all the wealth. > Inequality tends to be greater in developing countries than wealthier ones. The United States is an exception. > The rich tend to spend less of their money than the poor. As a result, the extreme concentration of wealth can slow the pace of economic growth. > Extreme inequality can also exacerbate political dysfunction and undermine faith in political and economic systems. It can also erode principles of fairness and democratic norms of sharing power and resources.
- jollofricepeas 3y ago
  Maybe the Bible has the answer? “The Jubilee is the year at the end of seven cycles of shmita (Sabbatical years) and, according to biblical regulations, had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the Land of Israel. According to the Book of Leviticus (Chapter 24-25), Hebrew slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven, and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.” SOURCES: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)#:~:text=The%20biblical%20requirement%20is%20that,of%20all%20Israelite%20indentured%20servants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)#:~:text=T.... - https://bibleproject.com/podcast/jubilee-radical-year-release/#:~:text=The%20Year%20of%20Jubilee%E2%80%94it's,every%20fifty%20years%20in%20Israel https://bibleproject.com/podcast/jubilee-radical-year-releas....
  - dsgnr 3y ago
    Interesting. Debt falls off a credit report after 7 years, so there is that.
  - barbazoo 3y ago
    The Bible actually does have the answer: > Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm
robwwilliams 3y ago
And for a deeper understanding see and lucid stlye: Trade Wars are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace by Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300261448/trade-wars-are-class-wars/ https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300261448/trade-wars-are...
jimmygrapes 3y ago
Consider: 1 million people send $1K once a year to one entity in exchange for a good or service. It may be more equitable for 1 million people to send $1K a year to one of 1 million different entities for an identical good/service, but in most cases there are not 1 million providers. Alternatively, those 1 million people could choose not to purchase that good/service. One less billionaire is created.
6510 3y ago
I have a new more general answer: Atheism! I don't subscribe to any religion but burning in the fires of hell for eternity seems like a powerful incentive. It's funny but don't take it as a joke entirely. Christian bankers use to pretend they never borrowed money to people unable to pay back. There was a strong incentive to give back to society. Usury was not portrayed as leadership. Of course people were always exploited but bragging about it was not done. To do slavery we first had to pretend the slaves weren't people. You couldn't just take land from original inhabitants, they had to invent the aboriginals first. Imagine among god fearing people someone was to propose to make it illegal to feed the homeless. They would lynch em good and proper.
- korpsey 3y ago
  I shared that way of thinking in the past but I noticed that there is a subset group of religious people that wouldn't consider atheists/non-believers human either. I am very skeptical about the benefits of fearing "burning in hell" in the long run.
  - 6510 3y ago
    Religious people are far from model citizens. From the perspective of non-religious people they deeply believe in something without any evidence. But specially the more fanatic atheist has this aura of superiority around him. There is this sense of liberation when you free yourself from bunch of lies or when you oppose a bunch of lies. (or think you do) But then we are stuck with these annoying christian values baked into our culture. Annoying since you cant just get rid of them because they are good ideas. We've basically uninstalled the proprietary application because it was bad but now we have to implement the protocol ourselves. This is considerably harder than bowing to some god king and doing as told. As a religious man told me, if god is not real you can just go around killing and robbing people? We are not in a hurry living up to his expectations but gradually we are getting there. So far robbing everyone is working out nicely.
    - predictabl3 3y ago
      > But specially the more fanatic atheist has this aura of superiority around him. There is this sense of liberation when you free yourself from bunch of lies or when you oppose a bunch of lies. (or think you do) > But then we are stuck with these annoying christian values baked into our culture. Annoying since you cant just get rid of them because they are good ideas. I'm done here for a while. This place is turning into a complete joke.
rufus_foreman 3y ago
"Global inequality has been declining fast since 1990s. During the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries, global inequality increased dramatically, reflecting widening disparities between countries' per capita income as advanced economies took off sharply compared with the rest of the world. The revival in global economic cooperation in the middle twentieth century ushered in an era of growth and development. Subsequently, per capita GDP growth rates accelerated in less developed countries, particularly in Asia, resulting in convergence in income levels across countries (Bourguignon, 2015). Millions of households were lifted out of poverty. As a result, the global income inequality first stabilized and then started to rapidly decline over the last three decades." -- International Monetary Fund https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-inequality https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-ine... As measured by the Gini coefficient, global inequality is lower than it has been for over a century.

27 points by DemiGuru 3y ago

Published: November 1, 2022 8.45am EDT Updated: January 2, 2023 11.05am EST > In the United States, the 10% earning the highest incomes take home nearly half of all income and the richest 10% of all households own more than 70% of all the wealth. > Inequality tends to be greater in developing countries than wealthier ones. The United States is an exception. > The rich tend to spend less of their money than the poor. As a result, the extreme concentration of wealth can slow the pace of economic growth. > Extreme inequality can also exacerbate political dysfunction and undermine faith in political and economic systems. It can also erode principles of fairness and democratic norms of sharing power and resources.

jollofricepeas 3y ago
Maybe the Bible has the answer? “The Jubilee is the year at the end of seven cycles of shmita (Sabbatical years) and, according to biblical regulations, had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the Land of Israel. According to the Book of Leviticus (Chapter 24-25), Hebrew slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven, and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.” SOURCES: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)#:~:text=The%20biblical%20requirement%20is%20that,of%20all%20Israelite%20indentured%20servants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)#:~:text=T.... - https://bibleproject.com/podcast/jubilee-radical-year-release/#:~:text=The%20Year%20of%20Jubilee%E2%80%94it's,every%20fifty%20years%20in%20Israel https://bibleproject.com/podcast/jubilee-radical-year-releas....
- dsgnr 3y ago
  Interesting. Debt falls off a credit report after 7 years, so there is that.
- barbazoo 3y ago
  The Bible actually does have the answer: > Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm https://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm

robwwilliams 3y ago

And for a deeper understanding see and lucid stlye: Trade Wars are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace by Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300261448/trade-wars-are-class-wars/ https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300261448/trade-wars-are...

jimmygrapes 3y ago

Consider: 1 million people send $1K once a year to one entity in exchange for a good or service. It may be more equitable for 1 million people to send $1K a year to one of 1 million different entities for an identical good/service, but in most cases there are not 1 million providers. Alternatively, those 1 million people could choose not to purchase that good/service. One less billionaire is created.

6510 3y ago

I have a new more general answer: Atheism! I don't subscribe to any religion but burning in the fires of hell for eternity seems like a powerful incentive. It's funny but don't take it as a joke entirely. Christian bankers use to pretend they never borrowed money to people unable to pay back. There was a strong incentive to give back to society. Usury was not portrayed as leadership. Of course people were always exploited but bragging about it was not done. To do slavery we first had to pretend the slaves weren't people. You couldn't just take land from original inhabitants, they had to invent the aboriginals first. Imagine among god fearing people someone was to propose to make it illegal to feed the homeless. They would lynch em good and proper.

korpsey 3y ago
I shared that way of thinking in the past but I noticed that there is a subset group of religious people that wouldn't consider atheists/non-believers human either. I am very skeptical about the benefits of fearing "burning in hell" in the long run.
- 6510 3y ago
  Religious people are far from model citizens. From the perspective of non-religious people they deeply believe in something without any evidence. But specially the more fanatic atheist has this aura of superiority around him. There is this sense of liberation when you free yourself from bunch of lies or when you oppose a bunch of lies. (or think you do) But then we are stuck with these annoying christian values baked into our culture. Annoying since you cant just get rid of them because they are good ideas. We've basically uninstalled the proprietary application because it was bad but now we have to implement the protocol ourselves. This is considerably harder than bowing to some god king and doing as told. As a religious man told me, if god is not real you can just go around killing and robbing people? We are not in a hurry living up to his expectations but gradually we are getting there. So far robbing everyone is working out nicely.
  - predictabl3 3y ago
    > But specially the more fanatic atheist has this aura of superiority around him. There is this sense of liberation when you free yourself from bunch of lies or when you oppose a bunch of lies. (or think you do) > But then we are stuck with these annoying christian values baked into our culture. Annoying since you cant just get rid of them because they are good ideas. I'm done here for a while. This place is turning into a complete joke.

rufus_foreman 3y ago

"Global inequality has been declining fast since 1990s. During the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries, global inequality increased dramatically, reflecting widening disparities between countries' per capita income as advanced economies took off sharply compared with the rest of the world. The revival in global economic cooperation in the middle twentieth century ushered in an era of growth and development. Subsequently, per capita GDP growth rates accelerated in less developed countries, particularly in Asia, resulting in convergence in income levels across countries (Bourguignon, 2015). Millions of households were lifted out of poverty. As a result, the global income inequality first stabilized and then started to rapidly decline over the last three decades." -- International Monetary Fund https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-inequality https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-ine... As measured by the Gini coefficient, global inequality is lower than it has been for over a century.