[quote=livinincali]How do you propose to reduce wealth inequality when consumer choices drive the wealth inequality in the first place. Every day a consumer goes to Walmart to buy groceries instead of the local grocery it increases the wealth inequality. Every time a consumer goes out and buys the latest and greatest iPhone rather than keeping the one they have increases the wealth inequality. Consumers making choice to consume and to go in debt to consume rather than save increases the wealth inequality. Every time you put more money into your 401K it makes Wall Street a little more wealthy.
What is wealthy? Taking a little bit from a lot of people. There’s plenty of stupid consumers that voluntarily give away a little bit of their productivity everyday.[/quote]
Consumer choices drive inequality? I don’t think so. What’s happened over the last few decades, and magnfied over the last decade is that the share of corporate revenues that end up in the hands of the workers who actually produce that revenue has declined dramatically.
Corporate profits are at record levels, measured both in real dollars and as a share of GDP. The delta in that income has remained in the hands of business owners, while wages have shrunk. The result is that the wealth built by those record profits remain in the hands of those who own the stock. That has always been the case, except that prior to the last few decades, workers have shared in that growth. That’s not the case now.
It has almost nothing to do with irresponsible consumption.
