Feb
21
Post #4- Nick Djamalidinov
February 21, 2015 | Leave a Comment
Today’s articles focused on the income inequality in New York City, which is a lot worse than I had expected. The New Yorker article put into perspective Manhattan’s income inequality, likening it to countries like Sierra Leone. That is actually alarming considering the economic position Sierra Leone is in. The CNN article gave some statistics on the income gap and shed some light on the relationship between income inequality and race. I think that is an important thing to consider given the history of race in America. But I found the city journal article the most intriguing. I really liked the different perspective it took on the income inequality of New York City.
The CNN article shows us statistics that the middle class is shrinking and the rich are getting richer. As more income is dominated by the rich, the middle class gets squeezed and the middle class ceases to be a middle class when the gap between middle class and rich is so high. But there is another aspect in economic inequality: race. Race has always been an issue in America and it is not surprising to see that it is related to income inequality. In a previous IDC class called People of New York we explored structural racism and its effects on income. Whites not only had higher incomes but tremendous amounts of wealth compared to Blacks. It was something that Picketty talked about, the power of wealth and inheritance. Generations of unequal opportunity and inheritance has generated severe differences in wealth. The statistics all seem to support the things I learned in People of New York.
Manhattan has this image of the richest New Yorkers and the concentration of big business. But it also has neighborhoods like Harlem, which is known for being very poor. But I had never thought that Manhattan would be on par with Sierra Leone when it come income inequality. The statistics were gathered in an interesting way. They based it on subway lines, finding the median income of different stations and subway lines. It is astonishing to me because by being on the same subway line, that means they would be taking the same train together to work which means they see each other everyday. And the statistics show some severe inequality so someone who is struggling in poverty could be taking the same train as a rich guy. So income inequality would be visible but we do not do anything about it.
The city-journal article was the most surprising for me. I was hard pressed to think in any way how income inequality could have any benefit but then I remembered that New York City is not just any city. I was glad to hear that New York City had the highest percentage of the lowest fifth advancing economically to the highest fifth. Even if it may be unfair, New York City still has some noticeable chance to allow a rags to riches story. The article also highlighted the benefits of having a powerful wealthy class. Their taxes actually help maintain the public services that makes poverty-stricken lives easier like the MTA or the library. It highlighted that these services create a mechanism through which the poor can improve themselves and take chances because it increases their access to resources. There was one person in the article who went to literacy classes at a public library in another part of the city, which she could not have done without the MTA and the public library. I also learned that excessive taxation might not be good solution and may actually create more problems because the rich would begin to protect their riches instead of investing in New York City.
My question then is, how do we manage the income gap without alienating the rich and ruining a powerful base of support for the city? I am starting to wonder if the saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” would apply here in some sense. While income inequality is a big issue, it seems to have its niche in New York City and maybe we should not tamper with it.
