Delusions of (Upward) Mobility - Paul Krugman
[font size="3"]The stupidity of the right is taking on preternatural proportions......[/font]
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/delusions-of-mobility/
(emphases my own)
Greg Sargent sends us to Paul Ryans latest an attempt to debunk the CBO report on income inequality. As usual, Ryan makes me think of Ezra Kleins old line about Dick Armey: [font color="red"]hes a stupid persons idea of what a smart person sounds like[/font].
Greg gives us a thorough takedown by Tim Smeeding, who really really knows his inequality stuff. Id just add that Ryan repeats the familiar line about how we have vast income mobility, so that the picture given by static inequality comparisons is misleading.
But as Ive pointed out, the CBO report itself takes that argument on and refutes it. Multi-year measures of inequality, it turns out, arent much lower than single-year measures. How is that possible, when many people change income quintiles? Because theyre usually moving short distances on the income scale. A lot of people move from, say, the top of the second quintile to the bottom of the third quintile or vice versa but such moves are trivial in terms of their true income position. Big moves, jumping more than one quintile, are much less common; yet its those big moves people have in mind when they talk about ,mobility.
And in the end, Ryans answer is that we need strong economic growth, the kind that we get by cutting taxes on the rich. Because thats why the Clinton years were an economic disaster and the Bush years so prosperous.
Dubster
(427 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)every month or so, someone when the Powerball or MegaMillions lotteries!
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)sign stating the Powerball jackpot with the Title on the picture something like: "Paul Ryan assures us there is upward mobility in the U.S." using one of those pics of Ryan smiling....
i don't know how to do it myself.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I do not possess that skill. Maybe I'll task it to the techyish BabyGirl 1StrongBlackMan?
fasttense
(17,301 posts)We reward luck.
You have to be lucky to be born to parents who give you millions of dollars to go to college on. You have to be lucky to be able to take your idea and shape it into a viable product that no one else is selling. You have to be lucky to get into just the right business that is prospering at the moment. You have to be lucky to be at the right place at the right time.
No amount of hard work and ability can replace dumb luck in the USA.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)talent, ability and skill have lost much of their luster in America; I do not agree that you have to be lucky to make it here. If you have a product/service niche idea that you WORK HARD to bring to market, you will most likely be rewarded. Yes, luck does play a part, in terms of timing, and having a wealthy benefactor willing to fund one's education and product funding, helps; but both of these are of far less effect than one's willingness to work hard.
That said, what I see most rewarded in the current business environment is unscrupluous conduct; a willingness to exploit anyone and every advantage, without thought to what or who is hurt.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)I've seen hard working, intelligent people attempt to bring a novel and useful product to market only to see them go under as someone with more wealth takes their ideas and puts it out before they do. Leaving the originators of the idea with very little business or profit. So, perhaps it was unscrupulous conduct. But if they had had better luck the unscrupulous businessman would not have noticed their product.
I've also seen lazy stupid people make a butt load of money off of useless items because they had tons of money to advertise it.
If hard work was all it took to be successful, then every Mexican would be wealthy. (this is NOT a jab at Mexicans. The OECD did a study that showed Mexicans were the hardest working population group http://www.realclearworld.com/2011/09/05/who_are_the_hardest_working_people_127372.html )
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)jsr
(7,712 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts).... and idolize "handsome" idiots who can spout the right catchphrases every so often, as being 'smart and serious'.
Up is down.