Contemporary American Society Soc 107 Professor Ofer Sharone Flourishing How are we doing Flourishing comfortable standards of living and quality of life Last few years deeply affected by Covid But in the bigger contemporary picture how are we doing compared to other advanced economies Flourishing Often hear we re the richest country in the world what does that mean The U S has the highest total Gross Domestic Product GDP in the world GDP total value of goods and services produced in a year Flourishing The U S has the highest total Gross Domestic Product GDP in the world GDP total value of goods and services produced in a year In trillions of U S Dollars 2023 estimates U S 26 8 China 19 3 Japan 4 4 Germany 4 3 India 3 7 UK 3 2 France 2 9 Is this a good indicator of flourishing Per Capita Income GDP Population U S also has among the highest per capita income in the world 2023 estimates Norway 101k Switzerland 98k U S 80k Germany 51k U K 46k Japan 35k China 13 8 GDP and Flourishing Is per capita GDP a good measure of flourishing What does per capita GDP miss GDP and Flourishing flourishing versus per capita GDP Not consider INEQUALITY Question Is it mathematically possible to have a country with a per capita GDP of over 1 million dollars AND in which 99 of the population lives in dire poverty GDP and Flourishing flourishing versus per capita GDP Not consider INEQUALITY Not consider quality of life Low high stress long short vacations Health Happiness Clean air etc etc GDP and Flourishing flourishing versus per capita GDP Not consider INEQUALITY Not consider quality of life Low high stress long short vacations Health Happiness Clean air What do you think is the best indicator of flourishing Inequality estimations On sheet of paper draw 5 buckets U shapes Inequality estimations On sheet of paper draw 5 buckets U shapes poorest 20 U U U U U richest 20 Imagine each bucket represents 20 of the American population Right most bucket represents the richest 20 Left most bucket represents the poorest 20 Estimate how much wealth each bucket of people has Write the under each bucket Note wealth accumulated assets minus debts Inequality estimations On sheet of paper draw 5 buckets U shapes poorest 20 U U U U U richest Combine your 2 left most buckets What s your estimate of the total of wealth held by the bottom 40 of Americans Wealth Inequality in America https www youtube com watch v QPKKQnijnsM Wealth inequality Ideal v Estimated v Actual Ideal is more equal than any modern society Estimate vastly underestimates the actual with bottom 40 0 3 wealth Ideal distributions partisan divide HOW UNDERSTAND THE SMALL PARTISAN DVIDE Economic Inequality Wealth Inequality Least wealthy 40 have less than 1 of U S wealth Most wealthy 1 have 40 of U S wealth Least wealthy 80 has 7 U S wealth Least wealthy 80 has 8 of stocks Would would someone coming from Mars think How does this structural reality that is beneath the surface help us start to understand the current moment Big Picture Economic Inequality History Prior to Civil War U S overwhelmingly rural and agricultural among whites relatively equal compared to places like Europe w feudal history Following Civil War American industrialization takes off ever visit Lowell mills U S experiences rise in productivity overall wealth we become a rich country in aggregate urbanization and decline of farming U S History in One Chart Overall GDP growth in 19th century Note steep rate of growth post Civil War The Gilded Age Anyone heard of the late 19th century and early 20th century referred to as the Gilded Age era of Robber Barons What do these terms convey The Gilded Age Owners of factories railroads amassed great wealth robber barons small wealthy elite sharply contrasted to vast number of workers living in poverty both immigrants and former farmers A Robber Baron Mansion Anyone been to Newport Rhode Island Workers Tenement Housing Converted warehouses windowless multiple families share one space Why Inequality in Gilded Age Why new abundance not more equally divided Why Inequality in Gilded Age Workers had weak bargaining power POWER Why What gives workers bargaining power Why Gilded Age Inequality What gives workers bargaining power 1 scarce skills with factory jobs most workers were viewed as replaceable tech allows deskilling 2 unions attempts to unionize crushed by employers with help of law courts police 3 Regulations What was minimum wage in the 19th century or early 20th 4 Social welfare benefits unemployment insurance social security food stamps Fast Forward to 1950s What images come to mind when you think of 1950s America Rise of White Middle Class and Suburbia Suburbia Symbol of millions attaining the American Dream Rise of Car Culture Cars no longer confined to the ultra rich now a common middle class item The Great Compression The rise of the white middle class as the new normal imagined and real Rapid transformation tenements middle class in suburban houses largely limited to whites due to redlining Median household income doubled from 1929 to 1950s Rise of employer provided health insurance and retirement pensions Widely shared assumption we re now largely a middle class society extreme inequalities of Gilded Age rapidly became a distant past of pre modern era early growing pains The Great Compression The rich became somewhat poorer in 1950s top 1 income 20 30 less than 1920s the super rich top 1 income was half of 1920s Mansions of 19th century became country clubs From land of extremes to middle class society w important exceptions HOW DID THIS SHARP TURN HAPPEN Was it inevitable Why the Great Compression Not economically inevitable No trend b w 1880s and early 1930s toward income equality Not a gradual process Why the Great Compression Not economically inevitable No trend b w 1880s and early 1930s toward income equality Not a gradual process Not politically inevitable No gradually growing support for policies to reduce inequality In 1928 Republican Herbert Hoover who stood for no redistribution regulations or social welfare programs crushed opponent 58 to 41 democrat Al Smith only won 8 states SO WHAT HAPPENED TO REDUCE INEQUALITY Why the Great Compression SO WHAT HAPPENED TO REDUCE INEQUALITY The New Deal Policies Increase Workers Bargaining Power New Deal Policies Increase Workers Bargaining Power 1 Rise of unions from 1935 to 1945 rise from 12 to 35 Workers organized large social movement demanding the right to unionize and better working