SUPER-WEALTHY SUPERSEDED BY ‘SUPER-WEALTHIER’
“Some of
it [income inequality], says Salim Furth, an economist with the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation, is
unavoidable in a global, higher-tech economy – and it may not be such a bad
thing. When people talk about ‘income
inequality,’ he says, they’re really talking
about poverty, which is and always has been a problem. Poor people have lower
health outcomes and other issues, Furth notes, whereas there’s not much
difference once you consider families making more than about $50,000 a year.
What appears to be a widening of the wealth gap is ‘the people who were super-wealthy have been superseded by people who are even super-wealthier,’ he says. Years ago,
someone might have become a millionaire by selling a lot of refrigerators in
the U.S. Now, he notes, someone can become a billionaire by developing a new
smartphone.”
Susan Milligan, “The New
Economic Issue, With the Economy Improving, Candidates Across the Political
Spectrum Are Focusing on Income Inequality,” U.S. News & World Report,
May 1, 2015.