Ugc 211 1st Edition Lecture 18 Current Lecture Film Continued o o o o o o o o o o o o Government sets the rules by which the market functions Same pattern of inequality Some people in the US are doing better than anyone in world history Big companies are designed to make profits not good jobs in the US Nobody is helping the American worker With money comes the capacity to control politics Taxation system has tilted towards rich in the past 10 years Tuition has went up 15 000 for in state If you don t have voice power or economic standing you don t have anyone to protect you We make the rules of the economy and we have the power to change the rules History is on the side of positive social change civil right social rights environmental protection Power is in your hands you can create change Inequality for All o o o o o o o o o o o Robert Reich author of 13 books professor of public policy at UC Berkley President Clinton s Secretary of Labor expert on economics comes from a poor background single mother has a disease that doesn t allow him to grow moved from big city to rural area in Midwest where he was also poor there moved all over place with mother for a better life he s been wealthy and poor all in between The film 2013 release at Sundance film festival follows Reich s semester long Wealth and Poverty class at Berkley His main point middle class provides 70 of spending in U S and they are the real job creators Our wages are actually lower than they were in 1978 Income distribution looks like a suspension bridge 1928 2007 Top 1 income share was the highest before the Great Depression crash Median salary in US is 50 000 Decline in manufacturing mirrors decline in middle class Smartphone not concentrated in one country made from pieces that come from all over the world Incomes have changed over the years The Great Prosperity 1947 1977 Suspension bridge American economic history These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute o o o o o o o o o o o o o Middle class kept spending even while wages were flat Women went back to work work longer hours people went into debt housing Money spent on lobbyists work for big corporations can spend lots of money on wining and dining politicians and on campaigns makes them feel they owe them something or they just tell them they owe them something Taxes pay for all the things we can t afford like healthcare school roads can t afford as individuals Pay taxes based on what you ear many loopholes upper class make a million a year pay less percentage of their earnings The more money you have you pays less a percentage of their income When there is high inequality more violence and racial tension Asset inequality and transformative assets Segregation tax Home equity Racial Targeting Predatory loans When something really bad happens in the U S people of color feel it more than others Patricia Williams housing discrimination professor at Columbia corrects application red lining