Social-Economic Inequality In USA Essays Example

The first proposition that people in America fall behind the rest due to laziness is not in line with Autor (2014) arguments. In this respect, therefore, Autor would strongly disagree with such a proposition. Laziness is a more of a personal choice that can only apply when the economic environment is equal in all aspects. One then wonders if the American economic environment is in favor of all people. To answer this, one has to consider what is the situation in terms of job availability, access to credit facilities, education, etc. that would help the poor to socially move up the ladder.
The fact is that social mobility as Autor notes is based on education. The children of the educated parents have added advantages in social mobility and hence, can improve their lives as opposed to the children of the poor. It is, therefore, imperative that the levels of education determine how one views life as well as the opportunities available. The cost of education in America has been increased to such levels that the poor cannot afford. It is thus evident that the poor remain in perpetual poverty with limited access to the surest way of social mobility-education.
As Autor notes, unskilled labor-majority of who are from the less educated, and the poor are not favored by the economic environment in America. Autor asserts that the increasing globalization has been replacing the lower levels of unskilled labor due to technological advancements. Automation replaces the manual workers and employs few of the educated from the society. Autor further claims that importation of good from other countries like china has also reduced to the demand for local goods and hence, fewer people are required in the industries. Such increases inequality among the people. It is, therefore, evident that it is not laziness, but the social-political environment that does not favor al the people equally.
Demand and supply may play a role in the demand and supply of skilled work and unskilled work. However, the type of polices a country creates contribute greatly to how demand and supply shifts. In the United States of America, Autor notes that the policies put in place favor the rich as opposed to the poor or all the people. For example, Autor opines that the reduction of the federal marginal tax rates does not favor all the people. Such reductions increases incentive among the highly paid workers who can seek more compensation as opposed to the poorly paid. Such a policy, therefore, increases inequality among the citizens.
The policies a government creates in most cases do not bring instant changes but are aimed to create a better environment for all. If the policies are not rightfully made, the effectiveness of the policies fails. For example, increasing the access of education to all people is one of the surest ways of increasing equality among the citizens. The same applies to application of healthcare facilities since only healthy people can work and earn. As Autor claims, children of educated parents have higher chances of climbing the social mobility ladder; the policy of education should guarantee education to all to increase social mobility. The more educated the society becomes, the lesser the inequality in the society. Crafting better labour regulations that protect the poor from exploitations, lowering taxation levels among those who earn little, as well as implementation of the non-zero minimum wage can trigger economic activity among the poor and increase equality.
In the article, Autor is more consistent with the second proposition that the American economic environment does not favor all the people. The government policies create hostiles environment to the poor contributing to higher levels of inequality. It is thus the duty of the government to make sure all people are favored by the economic environment in order to reduce inequality.

Works cited

David H. Autor. Skills, education, and the rise of earnings inequality among the
''other 99 percent'' Science 344, 843 (2014); DOI: 10.1126/science.1251868