Anderson 1 Trisha Anderson English 101 Professor Bolton 18 March 2014 Do We All Have a Fair Chance at Living the

American Dream? Joseph E. Stiglitz, an American economist and author of Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%, argues that America has allowed economic inequality to grow rapidly and continues to do so today. Inequality is defined as the lack of equality, opportunity, treatment, or status. Growing inequality between rich and poor is an example of social or economic disparity. America has long been known as the land of opportunity, a place where anyone, with a little determination, can rise up and live the American dream. We have been told this all our lives but is it the truth? Stiglitz asserts that the chances of a person making it to the middle, from a place in or near poverty, are much lower here in America than in any other advanced industrial country around the world. It is discussed that the upper one percent is taking in nearly a quarter of the nations income and forty percent of its wealth, numbers that have continued to rise over the last twenty-five years. However, middle class Americans have continued to see their incomes dwindle. Even while a good percent of our country was in a recession, the top one percent was not affected very much at all. Stiglitzs theory of economic inequality is extremely useful because it sheds light on Americas rising gap and what can happen if something is not done to fix the problem. While the gap in economic inequality has continued to become smaller among most developed countries, especially English-speaking ones, it is at its highest here in the United States. Over the last decade the rich have continued to get richer while the middle class and people at poverty level continue

Anderson 2 to decline in both wealth and income. Stiglitz offers statistics to show that twenty-five years ago the top one percent was in control of twelve percent of the countrys income and in terms of wealth, they were in control of thirty-three percent but those numbers have changed dramatically. As of 2013, the top one percent is taking in nearly a quarter of the nations income and forty percent of its wealth. He argues for men with only a high school diploma the decline in income is twelve percent over the last quarter of a century. America dawdles behind all other countries in Europe in terms of income inequality. In an interview, Warren Buffett, who is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century, put the matter correctly in his belief that his class, the rich, has won in class warfare that has been going on for the last twenty years. Stiglitz states, While many of the old centers of inequality in Latin America, such as Brazil, have been striving in recent years, rather successfully, to improve the plight of the poor and reduce the gaps in income, America has allowed inequality to grow(746). With the economic gap between the top one percent and the remaining ninety-nine percent being the highest it has been in America since the nineteen seventies, perhaps we should take notes from the countries that are succeeding in lessening their gap between the rich and the poor. Accordingly, if something is not done to improve Americas growing problem with inequality it is not likely that we will do well in terms of our future economy. President Barack Obama referred to the widening gap as the most defining challenge of our time. According to Stiglitz, a modern economy requires collective action- it needs government to invest in infrastructure, education, and technology (748). Wealth is a big indication of power and when massive wealth is put into the hands of an elite few, that interest group holds too much power. That group will then succeed in passing laws that help themselves in the short term rather than helping the country as a whole in the long term. This is commonly known as the consumption problem and is exactly what is happening here in America when it comes to tax policies, regulation policies, and public investments. The richest people in America have the biggest houses, the nicest cars and the best opportunity to succeed in life and stay at the top. The

Anderson 3 top one percent has no need to rely on the government for medical care, education, legal representation, or personal security because they can financially provide all of these things for themselves. Consequently, they no longer feel the need to invest their money in important things like research that we all need to continuously improve America. While some people argue that it is not how the pie is divided but the size of the pie itself, I agree with Stiglitz that this argument is wrong because the top one percents seems to place its efforts more for getting a larger piece of the pie rather than increasing the size of the pie. A study done by the Congressional Budget Office in 2011 found that the top one percent of American households, including federal taxes and income transfers, have increased their income by about two hundred and seventy-five percent over a period of twenty eight years. In comparison, the middle sixty percent of Americans saw a gain of less than forty percent in their income distribution. For our economys sake we need to stop and reverse this widening financial gap because if we keep going on this way who knows where we will be in the next twenty-five years. In conclusion, the expanding economic inequality is a huge problem in our country and we need to figure out what can be done to lessen that gap before our economy is beyond repair. The top one percent has the best of everything. They live lifestyles in which they are given the best chance at thriving in our economy as well as the opportunity at leaving a nice chunk of change to their children, keeping the cycle going. The rich usually stay rich. A child born poor has a much smaller chance at living the life of luxury than a child born into a life of privilege. America prides itself on equality and opportunity for all, which is one of the things that make our country so desirable to others. We have to live up to our name, we are Americans.

Anderson 4 Works Cited Stiglitz, Joseph. Dont Make English Official-Ban it instead. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook. 3rd Ed. Richard Bullock, Maureen Daley Goggin, and Francine Weinberg. New York: Norton, 2013. 746-753. Print.