One Dollar, One Vote

The evidence is clear: Income inequality is undermining democracy in America.
By Plumer 


Does economic inequality matter all that much? Some economists would say no. After all, if Bill Gates earns an extra, say, $20 million this year, while the poorest 10 million Americans improve their lot by $1,000 apiece, inequality would go up, sure, but everyone would be better off. The economy would boom; more color TVs for everyone. What, the reasoning goes, is so bad about that? As Anne Krueger of the International Monetary Fund said in 2002, "[I]t seems far better to focus on impoverishment than on inequality." Americans seem to agree; polls suggest that most people in the United States aren't bothered by inequality per se, so long as everyone has a reasonable chance to move up the income ladder through hard luck and a bit of ingenuity.
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