According to a a recent article in The New Yorker, "Richer and Poorer", economic inequality in the United States is greater than "any other democracy in the developed world" (as measured by the Gini index, a scale from 0 to 1 used to measure income inequality). The Gini rating for the United States has steadily climbed from ".397" in 1965 to ".476" in 2013. According to the article, "it's no longer possible to deny that [this change] exists". The new key question is why. Why is America becoming more unequal, and what does it mean for the future?
The article provides one answer that I did not at all expect: Congress. Sure, the approval rating and the productiveness of Congress are near all time lows, but is it also causing or creating inequality?
As explained in the article, the data from a series of international comparison studies shows that it might. Based on the findings of Alfred Stepan and Juan J. Linz, there is a strong correlation between a a given country's Gini rating and two other political factors: a nation's number of "veto players" (branches of government able to check and balance one another), and a nation's ratio of citizens to representatives in legislature. The higher the number of veto players, the higher a nation's Gini rating tends to be. Similarly, the higher ratio of citizens to representatives, again, the higher the Gini rating (The New Yorker). The United States is no exception to this pattern; it is the leader in all three factors.
As explained in the article, the data from a series of international comparison studies shows that it might. Based on the findings of Alfred Stepan and Juan J. Linz, there is a strong correlation between a a given country's Gini rating and two other political factors: a nation's number of "veto players" (branches of government able to check and balance one another), and a nation's ratio of citizens to representatives in legislature. The higher the number of veto players, the higher a nation's Gini rating tends to be. Similarly, the higher ratio of citizens to representatives, again, the higher the Gini rating (The New Yorker). The United States is no exception to this pattern; it is the leader in all three factors.
The United States is the only democracy in the world with four "veto players", and also has the most "malapportioned" representation in the legislature.
What is interesting, however, is that all of that information about Congress and inequality is included in the last two paragraphs of the seven page article. Though it says that "the problem . . . lies with Congress", the article barely explains it at all. Apart from the fancy, complex statistics, I do not see the connection between the United States' general political formation and heightened economic inequality. Therefore, at this point I don't buy it. The article presents an interesting idea: the effect that general political structure has on equality. But, I do not believe that The New Yorker definitively identified what is making the United States the most unequal democracy in the world. That criminal still desperately needs to be found.
What is interesting, however, is that all of that information about Congress and inequality is included in the last two paragraphs of the seven page article. Though it says that "the problem . . . lies with Congress", the article barely explains it at all. Apart from the fancy, complex statistics, I do not see the connection between the United States' general political formation and heightened economic inequality. Therefore, at this point I don't buy it. The article presents an interesting idea: the effect that general political structure has on equality. But, I do not believe that The New Yorker definitively identified what is making the United States the most unequal democracy in the world. That criminal still desperately needs to be found.
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