As I have chosen to focus on the topic of wealth and inequality for blog number one, I reviewed an article on the upcoming presidential campaign of 2020, and how candidates are putting forward new tax policies in attempt to attack the disproportionate inequality in the United States. The article mentions congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wish to enforce a tax of 70% on individuals bringing in over 10 million dollars a year. Other political figures including senator Elizabeth Warren are with the idea of taxing individuals based of a households assets as a whole. This theory believes that it would better judge the true value individuals being taxed. This tax would be called wealth tax, and ideally would be a way to reverse the rapidly growing wealth inequality gaps between economic classes in America. The opposing side says that this would hurt the economy as people would begin less investing and less participation in the economic market. Many who are against the wealth tax argue the theoretical policy on constitutional grounds. Another desire that a few Presidential candidates have mentioned is increasing inheritance taxes. This would discourage wealthy families staying wealthy forever without bloodlines truly contributing to the country. There is reason to believe this plays a key factor in driving inequality.
Relating back to the readings earlier this week, wealth inequality is an increasingly growing issue that many feel is going to become exponentially worse in the near future. The article reviewed above relates strongly to the readings by bringing attention to possible solutions that could reverse the growing problem. The idea that it is easy to make money when you come from money was in the weeks readings, and I feel like the inheritance tax is attempting to attack that issue. Redistributing money to different causes through inheritance tax holds the hope that families could not continue to build empire while other, poorer families inherit debt and continue to crumble. With the presidential campaign coming up, seeing that presidential candidates are addressing these tax policies as one of their big reasons to vote for them, shows that there is an understanding of the issue. Many people have recognized this issue and now it has become standard for candidates to address how they will stop the spread of inequality. The next president will undoubtedly play a large role on where the direction of the American economy goes and if it will be a positive result or not. With many calling for change to reverse inequality in the economic classes, a solid economic plan could prove to be as important as ever in 2020 for candidates.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/inequality-and-tax-rates-global-comparison
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Alec's Sociology Studies 