This article was referenced in Tom Friedman's Op-Ed piece today, and is most worthy of our time and consideration. The basic question is, if the economy has grown so much over the past few years, why do Americans feel so queasy? And what does that have to do with the election results?
3 comments:
Whoa there was a lot of information in that article! This trend we're seeing of the bigger and bigger gap between the rich and middle class is troubling. Especially because the middle class' incomes aren't improving very much. I think technology is definitely a key reason for the growing gap. As technology improves, we're able to replace more and more jobs with computers. On the one hand, this is good, and more productive, but it also means there are less jobs for people. As the article said, technology is complementary for the those at the top, but substitutes those in the middle. If this trend increases, what's going to happen? If computers keep improving, how long before even those at the top aren't really necessary? A person can only take in so much information through education, computers on the other hand have the possibility for almost infinite amounts of information. So where does that leave the millions of Americans who aren't computer programmers? I think we need to start assessing the way we use technology, and find a way for all Americans to benefit from improved technology, and not just the top 1%.
This article is very interesting. In repsponse to Freedmans article, its telling us that that because of the change from a republican majority to a democratic majority that the republicans are now coming upon a "civil war" blaming others on the problems occuring right now. The democrats on the other hand, he says, that they will now be arguing on what stance to take on the situation with china. Whether to use China as a "scapegoat or a sputnik." Personally I dont like the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, yes in the short term it will makes things cheaper and make some Americans happier by being able to buy more stuff. BUt in the long run I think it is going to end up hurting the US economy and only helping the Asian countries the jobs are outsourced to. So by using China as a "sputnik" to increase economic competitiveness between the two countries i think would end up helping the US economy.
The other article is also interesting. It shows that while the Us economy is growing by ex. 12%,the average American wage only grows by 3%, and is increasing slower than it was in 2000. Some reasons for this slow wage growth rate is believed to be due to incentives. Increases in health rate premiums, for example, are causing companies to spend more money on coverage than on wages.
I surely hope we use China as a Sputnik, because I do not think that erecting walls will do anything to help us or the world, and will only hurt everyone. We should not punish China for prospering; instead we should take advantage of the comparative advantages that the relationship creates. We need to find new ways for Americans to compete in the global market, and at the same time let China prosper in its own sector. Everyone will benefit from this kind of situation. Erecting walls would only be ignorant and selfish, and in today’s world America needs to be intelligent and act as an example of rational decision-making. If our middle class is not receiving the benefits of a growing economy, then they must not be an integral part of the growth. If they want to see the benefits, then they have to bring something new to the table. Hopefully, we will soon find out what that is.
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