Now back to
the question: how is economic inequality compatible with our equality of worth
as proclaimed in the Declaration? At the very least, economic inequality should
be good for everyone (or all classes), since everyone is equally important. Inequality
that doesn't make everyone better off is unjustified.
President Kennedy famously said that
"A rising tide [growing economy] will lift all boats." As Alan B. Krueger,
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explained in a recent speech :
during the postwar period through 1979 all income groups grew along with the
economy. Since then, however, JFK's metaphor no longer applies. As Krueger's
two charts below make clear, economic growth has come with soaring economic inequality
that has left most people worse off:
1947-1979 by Alan B. Krueger
1979-2011 by Alan B. Krueger
Markets are artificial systems.
Their outcomes are determined not just by competition, but also by the rules
and laws governing them. The market
systems of different countries produce different degrees of economic
inequality. If the outcomes of our system create unjustifiable inequality, then
we, as citizens of a democracy, are morally responsible for it.
Large tax cuts for the wealthy, a
very low minimum wage eroded by inflation, underfunded social and educational
programs, and--above all--laws and policies that undermine workers' right to unionize
combine to create an economy that trashes the Declaration's ideal of equality.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).