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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class Annotated

Bibliography
Emily C. Razzi
James Madison University

Introduction:

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

Income equality is an important issue that is seen in todays society. The top 1% is rapidly
increasing their wealth while the middle class as a whole is shrinking. Every college student
should be concerned about this issue. After graduating we need to find jobs that will pay enough
to help us pay off our student loans. This increasing gap between the upper and lower class is not
going to stop unless something is done. People need to be educated about this issue and fight for
a change. Taxes need to be raised or minimum wage needs to be raised. Either way something
needs to change. Income inequality is not good for the economy, the gross domestic product
(GDP), or the standard of living.

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

Kliman, A. (2015). Income inequality, managers' compensation and the falling

rate of profit: Reconciling the US evidence. Capital & Class, June.
Retrieved from Opposing Viewpoints in Context database. (Accession No.
A423235265)
The purpose of this academic journal is to inform the reader and argue a main point. The
authors main argument is that a fall in the rate of profit and employees share of output is
trendless. An easier way to think about that concept is that the amount of money a company
makes and the amount each employee makes is not a positively correlated trend. The author
clearly states his argument in his introduction paragraph. The information is fact and it is backed
up with a reference page. The reference page shows the reliability of the information in the
journal. There is a lot of data and statistics used throughout the academic journal.
The author, Andrew Kliman, does not state his credibility in the journal. His intended
audience are people who think that the fall in the rate of profit and employees share of output is a
positively correlated trend. He is arguing the opposite side so he wants to show the people who
disagree with him why his argument is correct. The information used is not biased and it is
reliable. He uses many outside sources to back up his argument. Kliman (2015) states a solid
argument, If US income inequality had increased by as much as is often believed, it would
indeed be difficult to reconcile the inequality data with the fall in the rate of profit and the
stability of the compensation share of output (para. 22). All the information in this source is
current and relevant since it was written in 2015. Also, the resources that this source uses are
mostly from 2015 as well.
This source is important because it is an academic journal. I have one other academic
journal, but it is from another perspective. Having a reliable source with a lot of relevant

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

information will help when writing an essay. My source has lots of statistics and facts used to
back up the authors argument. This source has given me a different perspective of my topic since
the author has a different opinion.
Kuttner, R. (2015). The wealth problem. The American Prospect, Inc. Retrieved
from Opposing Viewpoints in Context database. (Accession No. A410771416)
The author argues about the spread of wealth throughout the nation and how it is not
helping the economy. Many factors that go into it, not just blaming the upper class but society as
a whole is responsible for income inequality. From the beginning of the article the author makes
his intentions clear about what his thoughts are. The source is not too long, but still long enough
to get a good amount of information out of it. There is no reference page used in this source and
no charts are used as well. The conclusion is based on the statements he provides throughout the
article.
Kuttner does not state his crediblity in this article. Even though he may not be as credible
as he should be, he still puts up a good argument. His intended audience are people who want to
know more about income inequality and how it has become as bad as it is. The information is
reliable and does not seem to be biased. Kuttner (2015) uses historical facts to back up his
argument; The Homestead Acts beginning in 1862 produced homeownership (family farms)
rates as high as 75 percent in some of the newer states of the Midwest and Northwest (para. 15).
The article is relevant to my topic and also to what is happening in the world today. It is also
current because it was written in 2015.
This source is an easy to read opinion piece that is backed up by facts. Since it is not an
academic journal is it easier to comprehend and overall more enjoyable to read. Some of the

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

academic journals can be a little convoluted and wordy, but Kuttner is to the point. It may not
seem as reliable since he does not have a resource page, but he still shows the readers the main
point and argument about income inequality. I agree with his opinion so I personally enjoy this
article even though it does not change my opinion on income inequailty. It helps confirm my
views on the topic.
Scheiber, N. (2015, July 7). To fight income inequality, lifting the poor isn't
enough. The New York Times. Retrieved from Opposing Viewpoints in Context
database. (Accession No. A420744019)
Scheiber argues that bringing down the top 1% wont help fix income inequality and that
doing so will only hurt the economy even more. He suggests raising the minimum wage to $15.
This will help boost the salaries of the employees and stimulate economic growth since
consumption will increase. There is no reference page for this article, but he uses facts to back up
his argument. His conclusion is based off of the claim that minimum wage should be raised to
$15 and therefore income inequality will decrease.
This article is written for The New York Times so it is not an academic journal, but it is
written for a popular newspaper. Scheiber does not state his credentials in the article, but he still
writes well. His intended audience are people who believe in order to reduce income inequality
someone needs to bring down the top 1%. Scheiber (2015) writes why that does not need to
happen, The amount of income that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would have
generated for these 44 million people would probably have been between $300 billion and $400
billion (para. 7). This article was written in 2015 so it has current and relevant information. It is
reliable and shows facts that support the authors claims.

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

This article makes me think differently about income inequality. It shows me that the
answer may not necessarily have to do with punishing the rich, but with helping out the poor. I
have thought about the minimum wage and I know that if it had been raised to keep up with
inflation it would be at least $11. I think his idea of raising it to $15 is smart and would definitely
help stimulate the economy. This source helps round out my argument because he has fresh ideas
that make the reader think differently about the problem.
Solman, P. (2015, January 31). Many Americans feel stuck in a rut as income
inequality grows [Video file]. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/
PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=57976
This PBS video shows the facts about income inequality and how it has developed over
the years. It starts out interviewing a few people who are struggling to get out of debt even when
they are holding down jobs. Then, it cuts to facts about income inequality and how it has grown
so much through these past years. This video is arguing that income inequality is wrong and that
it needs to be fixed. The source is about ten minutes long and shows charts throughout. They
state where these were found, but there is no offical reference page. The conclusion is based off
of the facts stated in the video and the personal interviews.
The author, Solman, speaks in the background throughout the video and tells the viewers
the facts about income inequality. He does not state his own credentials, but does show his
knowledge on the topic throughout the video. The intended audience are viewers who are going
through hard times due to this income inequality issue. The viewers are able to connect to these
personal interviews and stories. Solman (2015) speaks to people going through hard times, The
latest of our debt is $5,000 charged to a credit card to put braces on our son (Solman, 2015).

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

This video has a lot of pathos since the people are telling stories about their money troubles. The
information in this video is relevant and current because it was created in 2015.
I thought this was an interesting source to use since it was a video rather than an article. It
was definitely entertaining to watch, but also sad because it showed so many people who
struggle because of this income inequality problem. This source is way different from my other
sources since it is a video; it shows a more personal side to this issue. Viewing this did not
change my opinion on the subject since it supports my views and thoughts on income inequality.
The video helps shape my research project because it brings in pathos and a personal story to go
with all the other facts from other souces I use.
Wilson, J. Q. (2015). To reduce inequality, we should help the poor not tax the
rich. The Wealth Divide. Retrieved from Opposing Viewpoints in Context
database. (Accession No. EJ3010937211)
This article discusses the issue of income inequality and how there is no need to bring
down the rich, but to help the poor. Wilson does not really believe that it income inequality is the
true problem, but poverty as a whole is the real issue. He talks about how Americans are
consuming so much, but still the poverty level is relatively high. His strategies on how to fix the
poverty issue are interesting and bring up a compelling conclusion. Wilson believes that using
investors to help low-income families get jobs will reduce the poverty rate. This source is an
academic journal and there is a reference page at the end of the journal.
Wilson is a credible author because it is stated in the beginning of the piece that he is a
professor at Harvard, UCLA, and Pepperdine. The intended audience are people who are looking
for more information about income inequality and want to see if from a different point of view.

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class

Showing the problem as a poverty problem rather than an income problem is an interesting
angle, but Wilson backs up all his thoughts with facts. Wilson (2015) states, Private investors,
including foundations, put up money to pay for a program or initiative to help low-income
people get jobs, stay out of prison or remain in school, for example. A government agency
evaluates the results (para. 22). All the information used is current because this source was
written in 2015 and Wilson also uses current sources throughout his piece; it is relvant to the
argument and topic.
This source is very interesting and helps with my topic a lot. It shows another way to
view income inequality and also comes up with ways it could be fixed. Even though it is an
academic journal it is not too hard to understand and the author does a good job in explaining his
thoughts. It is highly accredited since it is an academic journal compared to just a regular
newspaper article. Wilson has showed me a new way of looking at income inequality and that
impacts my views on the issue.

Research Narrative Storyboard

Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide): This
academic journal written by Kliman taught me about the economic side of
income inequality. It was a little hard to read because it has some tough

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Income Inequality Has Eroded the Middle Class
vocabulary and elaborate ideas, but it has a lot of important information.
The information is reliable too since it has a reference page and is an
academic journal. I found this on Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. To
find all the articles I found on Gale I searched Income Inequality and the
Middle Class.

Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide): My
second source is an article by Kuttner. This source is an article so it does
not have as much credibility as my first source does, which was an
academic journal. Kuttner shares my views about how income inequality is
such a big issue. He uses historical facts to back up his argument. I also
found this source on Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context.

Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide): My
third source is a New York Times article written by Scheiber. The New York
Times is not an academic journal but it is a well-respected newspaper so
this is a good source to use. His argument is to raise the minimum wage to
$15 dollars an hour. This will help increase consumption, stimulate the
economy, and allow people working minimum wage jobs to only work at
one place. Many low income families have parents working 2-4 jobs, but
with a higher minimum wage they would only have to work one job which
opens up those other jobs for new workers. So this is not only good for the
economy, but the unemployment rate as well.

Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide): My
fourth source is a video so this is completely different from my other
sources. This will help with my webpage in our future project because I
can use clips from this. It is a PBS video and there are people who are
experiencing a downfall because of income inequality being interviewed. It
is good to have personal stories for this project because it is easier to
connect with rather than an article or journal.

Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide): For my
fifth source I used an article written by Wilson. His views contradicted
mine so I thought it would be good to look at the other side of the
argument. Wilson thinks we shouldnt tax the rich, but instead help the
poor more. This is an interesting concept because personally I think we

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should do a little of each. But, he does use solid facts and comes up with a
good argument.