The Rich Get Richer...

Recently, one of my traditionally more conservative (and contrarian!) friends and I enjoyed an evening together at home. It was delightful to talk about our families, faith, and politics with a dear friend.

One area that we clearly agreed on was that the current economic situation in the US has benefitted the richest Americans while harming the vast majority of the country. Granted, both of us may qualify as "rich", but we are clearly not in the top 5% of income-earners.

Today, I found a recent study from Economists at UC Berkeley that indicate the shift towards deregulated, "free-market" control over the economy has empirically stratified the income distribution dramatically. I recommend you read their summary paper linked above. However, if you don't have time...here is their conclusion...

The labor market has been creating much more inequality over the
last thirty years, with the very top earners capturing a large fraction of
macroeconomic productivity gains. A number of factors may help explain this
increase in inequality, not only underlying technological changes but also the
retreat of institutions developed during the New Deal and World War II - such
as progressive tax policies, powerful unions, corporate provision of health
and retirement benefits, and changing social norms regarding pay inequality.
We need to decide as a society whether this increase in income inequality
is efficient and acceptable and, if not, what mix of institutional reforms
should be developed to counter it.