The article I chose was, 5 reasons why income inequality has become a major political issue, written by John Harwood.
Technology in Business
Technology plays a major role in all businesses today. There are stores that are using self -serve kiosks. In the article, it states that, “The digital revolution creates enormous wealth for those with the skills and preparation to take advantage.” Everyday technology is changing for the good and the bad. Soon enough there will not have to be any human interaction to order food at restaurants, or to check out at the grocery store. Today at the local Walmart they are getting rid of all the check outlines and replacing them with self- checkout kiosks so you will not have to talk to anyone. It also saves Walmart money by not having to pay people to do that job. In the long run it is saving the company money, but it is also getting rid of jobs in the area. In my opinion, technology will always continue to grow because that is what everyone relies on to stay connected with people or even to run a business. Technology should be there to help but it should not be what everyone relies on twenty-four seven. If we continue to rely on technology like we do now the world will go downhill and there will be little to none human interaction.
Imported Goods
America relies on other countries like China to make our imported goods. It is cheaper to send materials over there and have the Chinese make the goods and send them back, then to have a manufacture here in the United States. “Competition from rising economies like China’s, combined with educed trade barriers, have further reduced prospects for American workers without advanced skills.” With America sending good across the globe to be made, creates less jobs for those people who work in manufacturing and textiles. If America keeps sending goods overseas to be made it makes that countries economy grow because they are making money for the work, they are doing. Which in return weakens our economy because we are losing jobs all over the country. I think we as a country should make the manufacturing sites here in the states. Sure, it will be costly, but you will be making a lot more job opening for people. Which in turn can decrease the amount of poverty in America.
US Companies’ Strategies
In the United States it is somewhat easy to become famous. For instance, the kid with the backpack that goes around and does the dance the floss. Let’s take Apple for example, they just came out with the IPhone 11. People have already begun pre-ordering to make sure they have one before the phone’s prices rise. In an instant Apple has made millions of dollars in a day, the company has continued to grow through the years. With companies like this that keep growing will always have job openings, but with how the merchandise is priced people will pay whatever just so they can say they have the new IPhone or Mac. So, these companies can either help the economy or bring it down.
Organized Labor
When the article is talking about organized labor it means union, an organized group of employees with the purpose of moving in one direction for a common goal in the workplace. In the article, it states that, the share of workers represented by labor unions has dropped by half, some of this activity is due to technology and companies moving work to other countries for a cheaper labor cost. This then causes less organized workforce and less jobs for the American workers. Unions were founded by people who worked at companies that did not have anyone to stand up for their labor rights such as safety in the workplace, equality, women’s fair pay, insurance, vacation sick leave, and a 40-hour work week just to name a few. If companies would have treated their workers right than who knows if the organized labor movement would have survived. Organized labor gets a bad rap because they want to earn a living based of the American dream, while the companies want to make as much money as they can off the workers that make them the profits they deserve, but we have lost sight of the workers and solely focused on the companies and that is why the labor movement is still thriving in America.
The Rich Influencing the Political World
With the rich being able to have some influence in the political world, they can influence the outcome. “Rising wealth confers political power, and it has allowed economic winner to further reward themselves through government policies.” You could think of private institutions as the same way. The people who donate the most are the ones that usually have the most say in what happens. For example, if two students go to a private school and student one’s parents are the top donators, while student two is there on scholarship, most likely student one will be treated different because of the money.
