2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumTag: Wealth Inequality
From Dan Ariely's blog:
Wealth Inequality in Motion.
The only thing I wish he emphasized a little more is how similar the results were for Democrats and Republicans, which I found very hopeful. Even with all the ideological polarization in Washington, the moment we ask the question of ideal wealth distribution in a general and less self-interested way, we seem to be a country that cares a lot about each other.
Building a Better AmericaOne Wealth Quintile at a Time
by Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely
Abstract
Disagreements about the optimal level of wealth inequality underlie policy debates ranging from taxation to welfare. We attempt to insert the desires of "regular" Americans into these debates, by asking a nationally representative online panel to estimate the current distribution of wealth in the United States and to "build a better America" by constructing distributions with their ideal level of inequality. First, respondents dramatically underestimated the current level of wealth inequality. Second, respondents constructed ideal wealth distributions that were far more equitable than even their erroneously low estimates of the actual distribution. Most important from a policy perspective, we observed a surprising level of consensus: All demographic groupseven those not usually associated with wealth redistribution such as Republicans and the wealthydesired a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo.
Go to this link to download the original paper:
http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=38500
ladjf
(17,320 posts)I hope that you won't mind if I added an extension to the problem of Wealth Inequality.
Wealth inequality is a symptom of "Unbridled Capitalism" , the number one problem facing all life on Earth. If Capitalism isn't brought under control and soon, almost all life forms and most natural resources will cease to existent.
To simply the seriousness: either stop the Unbridled Capitalism or die. This is not an opinion, it is a fact based on solid scientific investigation.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)pdsimdars
(6,007 posts)the reason why some of us have criticized the past 2 Democratic Presidents, Clinton and Obama. Remember, 16 of those last 30 years were DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS. They certainly didn't "raise all boats".
BECAUSE, it was Clinton who was the first Democrat who decided that the Democrats should also get some corporate/Wall Street money. And look at the effects. People always say Clinton did such a great job with the economy, but THIS is the outcome.