Economy Gini coefficient : inequality between the rich and the poor

I don't disagree that the children of the rich may be generating nothing for the interest income they earn, that is, generating no innovation to power an increasing economy. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the government telling me what I can do with my money, i.e. give it to my children if I desire. I like freedom.

I also disagree with the argument that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. While the first may be true, the poor, at least in economically developed countries, are getting richer too, though undoubtedly at a slower rate than the rich. I would much rather be poor today than poor in, say, 1940.

Of course, I'm an old man so that opinion is perhaps expected . . .
 
In a sense, there are no poor people anymore. Even the wealthiest medieval king couldn't have dreamed of living in a house filled with glass, with boxes that played moving and speaking pictures, invisible hearths providing warmth and cool air on demand, surrounded by more books than he could count, with a chariot that moves faster than the fastest horse waiting at his command to take him to churches, fairs, or physicians who effortlessly treat deadly diseases with a shot in the arm.

The real problem of today isn't financial poverty at all, but the social and intellectual poverty of the underclass. It is not a financial problem by any means, which is why it remains totally impervious to all economic solutions that have been tried.
 
Back
Top