Byungzoon Kang

Paul Krugman is a renowned American economist and currently a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In his column piece for The New York Times, titled “Is Vast Inequality Necessary?” he begins with a question:

How rich do we need the rich to be?

The question of wealth inequality, more specifically the degree to which it exists, is inescapable in both public and private life. Indeed, U.S. politics is split with liberals wanting to raise taxes on high incomes and conservatives claiming that those policies reduce the incentives to create overall wealth. A small group of protesters camping out in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park shone a spotlight on the private struggles of the 99% of Americans, calling out corruption in corporate and political power. The public rallied in support for its message bound not by a particular demographic, but by believing that current economic and political systems are rigged for the very few.

On a local level, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio first led a campaign into office with a similar rhetoric, using a “tale of two cities” narrative to address New York City’s unique problems of wealth inequality. He has since expanded pre-K education for tens of thousands of students, created municipal ID cards for undocumented immigrants, increased affordable housing, and guaranteed sick days for workers in America’s largest city. Mayor de Blasio, alongside a national task force of mayors, hopes to aggressively tackle the wealth gap in their respective cities—continuing the legacy from Occupy Wall Street into City Hall.