عنوان

The undeserving rich :

1107027233 (hardback)

1107699827 (paperback)

9781107027237 (hardback)

9781107699823 (paperback)

b418159

The undeserving rich :

[Book]

American beliefs about inequality, opportunity, and redistribution /

Leslie McCall, Northwestern University

xvii, 300 pages :

illustrations ;

23 cm

Includes bibliographical references and index

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: thinking about income inequality; 2. Beyond the opposition between opportunity and inequality: theories of beliefs about inequality from the nineteenth century to the present; 3. The emergence of a new social issue: media coverage of income inequality and social class in the United States, 1980-2010; 4. American beliefs about income inequality: what, when, who, and why; 5. Why do Americans care about income inequality? The role of opportunity; 6. Social policy preferences in the era of rising inequality; 7. Conclusion: a new era of beliefs about inequality

8

"Chapter One Introduction: Thinking about Income Inequality In the past decade, we have witnessed one sensational event after another connected in some way to rising income inequality. As I write, it is the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is not only demanding greater economic and social equality for the bottom ninety-nine against the top one "percenters" but coining a new set of class categories in the process. Almost a decade ago, when I began research on American beliefs about rising inequality, it was the scandals surrounding Enron that were making front page news, with the pension funds of workers and retirees evaporating into thin air as the coffers of executives mysteriously survived. In between Enron and Occupy Wall Street, there is no shortage of occasions to reflect on the state of income inequality in the U.S. -the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, the outsourcing of middle class jobs to Ireland and India, Hurricane Katrina, the financial crisis and the Great Recession. At each turn in the road, reporters and commentators concerned about rising income inequality but dismayed by the lack of political attention given to the issue declared that finally it would be taken seriously. And this says nothing of the events prior to the 2000s, several of which pointed the finger at rising inequality just as vehemently, as I show in my analysis of media coverage of income inequality in chapter 3. Yet nothing has changed. Income inequality continues its rise to heights unfathomable just a few generations ago. The late public intellectual and eminent Harvard sociologist Daniel Bell wrote in 1973 that earnings inequality "will be one of the most vexing questions in a post-industrial society." Heconomies of the past"--

"It is widely assumed that Americans care little about income inequality, believe opportunities abound, admire the rich, and dislike redistributive policies. Leslie McCall contends that such assumptions are based on both misleading survey data and past economic conditions. In fact, Americans have desired less inequality for decades, and McCall's book explains why. Americans become most concerned about inequality in times of inequitable growth, when they view the rich as prospering while opportunities for good jobs, fair pay, and high quality education are restricted for everyone else. As a result, they favor policies to expand opportunity and redistribute earnings in the workplace, reducing inequality in the market rather than redistributing income after the fact with tax and spending policies. This book resolves the paradox of how Americans can express little enthusiasm for welfare state policies and still yearn for a more equitable society"--

Equality-- United States

Income distribution-- United States

United States, Economic conditions

0

McCall, Leslie,1964-

20130501234414.0

rda

[Book]

Y