Galbraith Chapters 1 &2 Argument Spans Chapter 1: “The Affluent society” The problem that Galbraith is trying to point out in the first chapter is that “wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding”(p.1). This wealth has brought change among the people but has kept the ideas of the world of poverty. In the past, almost everybody was poor, but today in the affluent world people are consumed with wealth to the extreme point that they begin to believe that they are poor or “ill” With poor understanding, people are not open to accepting new ideas that can aid this new and affluent society. The economic ideas that are used today, that were “once interpreted the world of mass poverty have made no adjustment to the world of affluence” (p.2).
As shown in Source E, the people with more income are for getting rid of the penny, while the more poor people are against the abolishment. This is probably because the more upper class people do not have to pay for simple things with the pennies they find on the streets. Poorer people who make less than $25,000 a year obviously don’t have good jobs, probably not full coverage health insurance, and a lot of the time, have more children to take care of. Due to the insurance they have, their prescriptions and doctor co pays are very expensive. Penny pinching may be these deprived people’s only option in paying bills.
While some Americans were pouring their money into the economy, the government was doing very little to fix the problems of unemployment. Unemployment rates had increased by the end of 1920. The unequal distribution of wealth and income made the economy very vulnerable. High tariff barriers disabled trade between the United States and other countries. America was forced to extend credit to ever extended nations in order to keep trade alive.
Inflation has many negative affects. People on fixed incomes suffer, wages spiral up in order to keep up with the higher cost of goods and services, but still not high enough to keep
But not even President Obama’s $33 billion tax credit was not enough to substantially increase jobs in the market. To the contrary, it has gotten more difficult and complicated to keep the job market growing at a satisfactory pace. King claims ”If the Great Recession has taught us anything, it is that planning for the future by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth are what will keep the American Dream alive.” Many economists believe that rather than having the resources divided among different competing groups, individuals should be giving unregulated economic freedom to selfishly improve their lot and eventually their efforts would trickle down to the rest of society. Though this thought actually worked for America for many decades, the global markets no dictate what control we have over the
Companies could abuse their employees without this price floor. Minimum wage started in New Zealand during the late 1800’s and has been a huge aspect of our evolving world. The increase in minimum wages increases the economy by increasing consumer spending, without adding to the federal, state and even local budget deficits. A raise of the minimum wage puts money into the pockets of most low income citizens, who immediately give it right back to the local businesses to pay for their standards of living. This is NOT a short term trend and the government creating the environment to protect its citizens from going below their standard of living, hitting poverty level, more consumers spending and protecting them from employers all by using the aspects of minimum wage.
Why do immigrants want to move? Jobs are getting really tough to find, a reason is of all the immigrants moving to the United States, that means higher poverty percentages. Immigrants are found everywhere in the U.S., this is causing chaos in all parts of our country. Cheap labor from immigrants is another factor to our economy. The cheap labor of immigrants put us at a disadvantage.
Capitalism was involved causing money to disappear and a lot of citizens became broke which effected most of the communities people to become homeless or broke. When Roosevelt took all of the gold it caused the stock market to crumble and this effected the where abouts of missing money and the start of the Great Depression. Roosevelt's New Deal was to influence capitalism with the economic health; they would try to side with businesses and attempt to forge a new social-democratic coalition of workers-poor and
The Dirty Little Secret: Poverty In America Jane A. Easter The current reality in the United States of America is that the level of disparity between classes is growing and not in a good way. The small portion of the rich are getting richer and the number of poor is increasing creating a larger gap between the previous middle class and the lower class. The other reality is that it is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” society. Though studies, census data and other overwhelming proof is all around us, it is one of the least talked about issues. The classes by race and gender continue to have disparate realities across the country.
The workforce is full of opportunities that even middle to low classed Americans do not want. Many illegal immigrants come to our country seeking even the lowest level of work, as long as they are getting money to raise and support a family, then they are happy. If an immigrant wants to come to our country to better their lives and improve our economy, why would we push them away? Koebler, Jason. "11 Cities With the Most Hispanics."