Shikha Dalmia on Why Income Inequality Is a Red Herring
America has done a remarkable job of closing the only gap that matters: the personal well-being gap. The difference between the basic goods available to average Americans and mega-rich folks such as Bill Gates has steadily decreased, writes Shikha Dalmia in her contribution to Boston Review's symposium on income inequality. Gates might have personal jets and private gardens. But thanks to technology-driven productivity increases and lowered trade barriers, almost every American can afford bypass surgeries, laptops with Internet access, cars, TVs, and occasional air travel.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
You are not giving Obama enough credit. As soon as he releases his stash we will all be rich:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZ-Etb0k0Q
RACIST!
Your gold toofus distracted me. What was that?
You don't get it.
The rich don't pay their fair share.
We know this because they are rich.
If they paid their fair share then they wouldn't be rich!
Besides, what about all the free shit I can have if the rich are relieved of their ill gotten gains?
I want my free shit!
How can I be happy with what I have if someone, somewhere has more?
The poorest person in America lives better than Louis XIV. What does it matter how the richest live?
I wouldn't go so far as to say the poorest person. But the poor, on average, definitely. Refrigeration, indoor plumbing, and TVs pretty much equal win.
Louis XIV had no access to anything but medieval medical care, no canned food, no refrigeration, no air conditioning, no running water, no indoor plumbing, no TV, no phone, and no transportation any more advanced than how the Pharaohs traveled. I would rather live in a trailer park now than Versailles then.
Goddamn your igrant.
The president makes a prime-time announcement. "I [sic] will give anyone who wants it [say] $200,000 tax free. All you have to do is drop yourself from the welfare rolls."
Any takers? Discuss.
I can keep my kids on, right?
You forget to include a link to the article:
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR.....uality.php
Wow Shikha I have been enjoying your articles for some time now and never realized you are such a beauty. You are a real knockout.
I don't know. She looks an awful lot like Bill Gates.
I don't know, the "Bill Gates impersonator" look doesn't do it for me.
Is this an article, or just a paragraph?
Also, doesn't everyone know the rich don't pay taxes? Chris Mathews said so.
Linky here.