Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Richest 1 Percent Captured 93 Percent Of Income Gains In 2010
Due 16 March 2012. What do you think? Is fairness & equity a part of a capitalist system? Who benefits during a recession? What steps need to be taken to stabilize our economy?
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Personally, I am an advocate of the capitalist system. I agree with its fundamental principles as in the free market. To some extent, I think capitalism is about fairness, but not at all about equity. It relates to fairness as what you earn what you work for. I associate equity more with socialism and communism, as in spreading the wealth so that everyone benefits. During a recession, the richest 1% benefits the most, as they are not really affected by an economic downturn as much as other individuals in lower economic classes. The 1% after all "captured 93 percent of the nation's income gains". In order to stabilize the economy, we need to reduce taxes to increase spending in this country. Consumer spending will help our economy grow and eventually return to pre-recession status.
ReplyDeleteWell, personally, I tend to lean more towards socialism as an ideal for how things should operate, since it's most equitable and fair. Unfortunately capitalism lies on the opposite end of the spectrum from socialism. It's terrible -- the things going on in this country. Unfortunately that's the way we've allowed our country to be shaped; either screw or be screwed.
ReplyDeleteI think a violent overthrow of the current US government is in order... I mean, that's what the second amendment was made for.
But, if we have to keep the current system, we just need more stimulus in our economy and get people spending again. We should stop fighting wars and invest in research into new technologies and sciences.
In theory, Capitalist system seems to be the most efficient and the idea of "invisible hand" would lead us to the best possible world. However, in reality, some self-interested people might lead us to the other side of the world. During the Great Depression, we try to use the "invisible hand" to solve the economic problem but it didn't work out. When FDR regulated the economy and introduced the New Deal, the economy started to recover. I think we definitely need government regulation both in our society and our economy. So I think socialism would be the best in our country. Since "the richest 1% capture 93% of income gains in 2010", it is pretty obvious that the top 1% benefits the most during the recession. Rich people will become richer and richer, and the poor people will become poorer and poorer. Eventually the great gap between the rich and the poor will create a serious social issue within our country. We should change our tax policy to help out our economy. The rich people are not paying enough taxes. We should raise taxes to increase tax revenue so that we can increase government spending and stimulate the economy.
ReplyDeleteI think that the capitalist system includes fairness but not equity like Zoey said. Fairness is part since how much you make is because of how much you work, while equity is more like when everyone works different amounts, but all end up with the same amount of wealth. Recessions are more beneficial towards the top 1%, quoted “The top 1% captured 93% of the income gains in the first year of recovery.” The chart shows how the rich were rich and poor were still poor. I think we need to either increase taxes to increase government spending or stimulate more consumer spending so money starts to flow more in our economy.
ReplyDeleteI think that the capitalist system is the closest anyone a society can come to to become equal and fair. Socialist systems do not work and the knowledgeable start slacking off and do not balance out the country. I think that if the capitalist system was put anywhere else, in any country in the world, the effects off the rich would do the same thing. That is just how the system works. Since the rich do run the country they determine the number of jobs, GDP, etc. I think this article is bias and only takes the view from a liberal side. Yes, the rich earn money, but what does the money go to? Investments, creation of jobs, etc. Without the rich, our economy would move no where and would stay in a slump. To stabilize the economy, the country just needs to wait it out. With time, money will be scattered for everyone and the economy will stabilize on it’s own.
ReplyDeleteJust like Spencer, I lean more toward the socialist side, or at least I advocate for a lot more welfare and such. I think capitalism in theory seems to work; however, it doesn't seem to work in the real world. To some degree the system may seem fair in the sense that it allows a free market and individuals gain due to the work the exert; however, equity is nonexistent in my opinion. In no way is there equity since free market allows certain members of society to get everything while majority of the members have nothing. To stabilize the economy we must increase the creation of jobs but also have some sort of welfare for the unfortunate to fall back, not rely, on. This will help boost the economy and be a starting point for lessening the gap between the rich and poor.
ReplyDeleteJust as Xioawen mentioned, in theory, the capitalist system efficiently strategizes to create a working world where fairness is achieved. I believe this occurs with most capitalistic policies. However, I don't think there is always equity. There's always an outlet for self-interested people to bring in bonuses and leave others in the cold. It's almost like survival of the fittest, where you have to obtain certain adaptations in order to remain. This also means that there will be those who don't achieve the levels they do. So in this case, the capitalist system proves to have a downfall with equity. During a recession, the goal is to have everyone benefit so to return to a contractionary period where the cycle begins. However, it seems as if only those with enough money to live continuously and eternally can sustain throughout a recession, and perhaps benefit because everyone else is suffering. All that is known is that those who aren't the one percent suffer. In order to stabilize our economy there needs to be some kind of equality among the different classes of our society; diminishing the gap.
ReplyDeleteCapitalism is one of the most fair and equal systems out there. If you work hard you might be able to become successful and everybody starts at the same level in the begining and it is all up to you what happens after that. The rich, just like in everything else, benefit from a recession. To stabilize the economy I think there needs to be a little more government regulation in the market but not enough to the point where it becomes a socialist society.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the capitalist system is the most efficient and fair, because it promotes self-efficiency. I do agree with some aspects of socialism, though, such as the welfare policies, but when it gets to the point when the hard working people are literally paying the non-workings bills, then I think it's ridiculous. Of course the people who benefit from the recession are the rich, and the lower class is the one who suffers from it. In order to stabilize the economy, I believe that we need to increase the taxes on everyone; not just the lower and working classes.
ReplyDeleteI think that capitalism seems to be a fair system that should work, but in reality not really working. Capitalism has some aspects of fairness but not so much equity. During a recession, the rich are benefiting because they don't really get affected at all by the downturn. And since prices are decreasing, it is to their advantage that they can still purchase things for an even cheaper price now. I believe that we should raise taxes to stabilize the economy.
ReplyDelete