Inequality is a choice.
The United States bills itself as the land of opportunity, a place where
anyone can achieve success and a better life through hard work and
determination. But the facts tell a different story--the U.S. today lags
behind most other developed nations in measures of inequality and
economic mobility. For decades, wages have stagnated for the majority of
workers while economic gains have disproportionately gone to the top one
percent. Education, housing, and health care--essential ingredients for
individual success--are growing ever more expensive. Deeply rooted
structural discrimination continues to hold down women and people of
color, and more than one-fifth of all American children now live in
poverty. These trends are on track to become even worse in the future.
Some economists claim that today's bleak conditions are inevitable
consequences of market outcomes, globalization, and technological
progress. If we want greater equality, they argue, we have to sacrifice
growth. This is simply not true. American inequality is the result of
misguided structural rules that actually constrict economic growth. We
have stripped away worker protections and family support systems,
created a tax system that rewards short-term gains over long-term
investment, offered a de facto public safety net to too-big-to-fail
financial institutions, and chosen monetary and fiscal policies that
promote wealth over full employment.
