OLLI: Can Democracy & Capitalism Survive the Wealth Gap

Wealth inequality in the United States refers to the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments. The top 10% wealthiest individuals possess 80% of all financial assets. Although different from income inequality, the two are related.  The Brookings Institute said in 2013 that income inequality was increasing and becoming permanent, reducing social mobility in the U.S. Scholars and others differ as to the causes, solutions and the significance of the trend, which in 2011 helped ignite the “Occupy” protest movement. We will consider proposed public policy responses that address causes and deleterious effects of income inequality that include: progressive tax incidence adjustments, strengthening social safety net provisions such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Head Start, welfare, the food stamp program, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, increasing and reforming higher education subsidies, increasing infrastructure spending and placing limits on and taxing rentseeking individuals.

Instructor: Joan Traffas, Adjunct Instructor, U.S. History