Economic Inequalities In The United States

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Today in America we have the greatest social economic inequality since the early 1920's (DE silver, 2014). It is more difficult to change economic classes than ever before (Fitz, 2015). America has always been known as the land of opportunity, but is that still the case today? There are many things that affect Americans chances of being able to become wealthy or even have the opportunity to live conformably. Most Americans are unable to control the most significant factors that affect their chances of increasing their wealth and income. Two controlling factors are the family you are born into and the education you receive. The social economic problems that the United States face are complex and very difficult to analyze at times. I will be …show more content…
However, it is essential in understanding the inequality and greed that exists in the country. The most recent economic downfall in the United States was the collapse of the housing market and stock market in 2008. Banks were allowing sub-prime mortgages to people who could not afford to pay them back (Amadeo, 2015). In addition to this they also traded risky and disguised loans and stocks (Amadeo, 2015). Companies were just passing their bad decisions and loans on to the next company for a profit and not worrying about the consequences of these trades. In the end everything came crashing down and lower income individuals were hurt. Housing prices went down, and foreclosures became rampant thorough out the United States (Amadeo, 2015). The stock market also took a huge hit and in December of 2008. The Dow closed 34% lower compared to the year before during this time period (Amadeo, …show more content…
In 2012 the top 1% of earners made 22.5% of all pretax income leaving only 49.6% for the bottom 90% (Desilver, 2014). Another compelling statistic is that the income between African American and Caucasian families has increased 8,000 dollars in favor of white families since 1967 (Desilver, 2014). Additionally, Americans seem to be unaware how prevalent the issue of inequality is in regard to the United States. According to Desilver (2014) less than half of Americans believe the wealth income gap is a major issue. 60% of American's also deeply believe that if they work hard they can become wealthy (Fitz,
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