Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz claims that income
inequality is now so bad the American dream is nothing but a myth. He
explained that hard work and determination are no longer the keys to
success. Instead, being born to rich, well-educated parents is the best
indicator of future earnings.
Joseph Stiglitz, who was once chief economist at the world bank and
currently teaches at Columbia University, is on tour promoting his new
book,
The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them.
Although Stiglitz is preaching on a topic Americans have heard
frequently over the past decade, his analysis and conclusions are still
startling.
According to
CBS News,
he wrote, “America is no longer the land of opportunity that it (and
others) like to think it is. To a large extent, the American Dream is a
myth.”
The American dream is the idea that anyone can attain a prosperous
life through their own hard work, regardless of their social status at
birth. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting the American
dream — think of
Oprah Winfrey’s heartbreaking story of going from dresses made of potato sacks to a media mogul worth around $3 billion.
But the statistics show those stories are aberrations, and the truth is far darker for most poor Americans.
The economist claimed that median incomes have stagnated over the
past 40 years, yet CEO pay has gone from 30 times the normal workers
salary to 300 times. He also explained that a much higher percentage of
minimum wage jobs are held by family breadwinners.
One of the most ironic parts of the American dream’s demise is the
fact that other developed countries, even Old Europe, have better upward
mobility than the U.S. Unless something is done, the gap between the
rich and poor will only widen according to Stiglitz.
“If the root causes of income inequality go unaddressed,
America will truly become a two-class society and look much more like a
third world economy.”
He added, “People will live in gated communities with armed guards.
It’s a ugly picture. There will be political, social and economic
turmoil.”
