During Memorial Day weekend at a biker rally in Washington DC Donald Trump spoke to a group of supporters. “We’re going to give the right for those people to see a private doctor or even a public doctor and get themselves taken care of and we’re going to pay the bill,” he said. The message was tailored for the audience of veterans, but it touches on a common theme. Over the last few months I’ve seen my Twitter feed flooded with news stories about the increasing divide between people succeeding in the globalized economy and people who are just struggling to get by.
A lot of this stuff is old news. A study looking at pay packages in 2014 by the consultancy Payscale Human Capital found that CVS CEO Larry Merlo earned 422 times the average wage paid to the company’s employees. Merlo took home more a compensation package worth more than $12 million while the average employee earned $28,000. Goodyear, Walt Disney, and Honeywell also topped Payscale’s list for most egregious gaps between CEO and worker pay. In past years, however, the wealth gap has seemed like a niche topic in the news cycle. In the 2016 election season it feels like income inequality has become the dominant issue. Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a number of fascinating stories.
On May 3 I tweeted this Washington Post wonkblog article on the ongoing struggles of young people in the US. In the article reporter Max Ehrenfreund explains that despite being better educated than the previous generation that started their careers in New York City in 2000, the current group of young people in the city is earning less, despite being better education. Ehenfeund explains, “For most young adults in the city, though, incomes have declined. A typical 25-year-old made $43,000 in New York in 2000, adjusting for inflation. In 2014, a 25-year-old in the city could expect to make about $37,000.”
The percentage of young people working in low wage industries such as retail and hospitality increased from 23% to 33%. As of 2014 an astounding 45% of all 18 to 29-year-olds in New York City lived with their parents. “Wherever they live, young people are having a hard time getting a start on life in the modern American economy,” Ehrenfreund explains.
Read the complete report: Media Roundup: Income Inequality Is The Biggest Story For The U.S. Economy - Forbes
A lot of this stuff is old news. A study looking at pay packages in 2014 by the consultancy Payscale Human Capital found that CVS CEO Larry Merlo earned 422 times the average wage paid to the company’s employees. Merlo took home more a compensation package worth more than $12 million while the average employee earned $28,000. Goodyear, Walt Disney, and Honeywell also topped Payscale’s list for most egregious gaps between CEO and worker pay. In past years, however, the wealth gap has seemed like a niche topic in the news cycle. In the 2016 election season it feels like income inequality has become the dominant issue. Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a number of fascinating stories.
On May 3 I tweeted this Washington Post wonkblog article on the ongoing struggles of young people in the US. In the article reporter Max Ehrenfreund explains that despite being better educated than the previous generation that started their careers in New York City in 2000, the current group of young people in the city is earning less, despite being better education. Ehenfeund explains, “For most young adults in the city, though, incomes have declined. A typical 25-year-old made $43,000 in New York in 2000, adjusting for inflation. In 2014, a 25-year-old in the city could expect to make about $37,000.”
The percentage of young people working in low wage industries such as retail and hospitality increased from 23% to 33%. As of 2014 an astounding 45% of all 18 to 29-year-olds in New York City lived with their parents. “Wherever they live, young people are having a hard time getting a start on life in the modern American economy,” Ehrenfreund explains.
Read the complete report: Media Roundup: Income Inequality Is The Biggest Story For The U.S. Economy - Forbes
