"What Land of Opportunity?"By Joseph E. Stiglitz at Slate

[applegrove]

Last edited Wed Jun 13, 2012, 08:54 PM - Edit history (1)

What Land of Opportunity?

The American Dream can be restored, but it will take some work.

By Joseph E. Stiglitz at Slate

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/project_syndicate/2012/06/the_american_dream_is_dying_here_s_how_we_can_fix_it_.html

"SNIP..........................................

Defenders of America’s inequality argue that the poor and those in the middle shouldn’t complain. While they may be getting a smaller share of the pie than they did in the past, the pie is growing so much, thanks to the contributions of the rich and superrich, that the size of their slice is actually larger. The evidence, again, flatly contradicts this. Indeed, America grew far faster in the decades after World War II, when it was growing together, than it has since 1980, when it began growing apart.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, once one understands the sources of inequality. Rent-seeking distorts the economy. Market forces, of course, play a role, too, but markets are shaped by politics; and, in America, with its quasi-corrupt system of campaign finance and its revolving doors between government and industry, politics is shaped by money.

For example, a bankruptcy law that privileges derivatives over all else but does not allow the discharge of student debt, no matter how inadequate the education provided, enriches bankers and impoverishes many at the bottom. In a country where money trumps democracy, such legislation has become predictably frequent.

But growing inequality is not inevitable. There are market economies that are doing better, both in terms of both GDP growth and rising living standards for most citizens. Some are even reducing inequalities.

............................................SNIP"

[otohara]

1. Linky

would be nice

[applegrove]

2. Here is the link. Thanks for pointing that out.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/project_syndicate/2012/06/the_american_dream_is_dying_here_s_how_we_can_fix_it_.html