Income inequality in the United States: A call to action

This thesis is a comprehensive analysis on income inequality in the United States. It is broken into five chapters. Chapter I begins with an introduction on why I chose to address income inequality, its importance in our society, and why its consequences merit action. In Chapter II, I define the parameters of income inequality and place our current income levels in a historical context. I provide empirical data and analysis of income starting from the revolutionary war through the civil war, and dedicate the bulk of my analysis to income inequality at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century. Chapter III outlines some of the causes of the inequality and how each has affected the income divide. Further examination in Chapter IV compares the level of income inequality in the United States to other developed nations to uncover whether the phenomenon is uniquely American, or the result of a global trend. Chapter V focuses on the consequences of income inequality in the US and demonstrates its effects on health care, education, and the rule of law. Last, Chapter VI concludes the analysis of income inequality in the United States with a call to action and lists solutions others have offered that include measures to either restore balance to the growing inequality, or ameliorate its effects. ;Ultimately, I determine that income inequality in the United States is indeed a problem that is growing out of proportion. Though levels of income inequality have varied throughout America's history, current levels are not an inevitable consequence of a free market system. Rather, they are the direct result of unchecked policies and trends that threaten the very social fabric upon which this nation was founded. Data clearly demonstrates we have reached a tipping point and without action the country will continue to become further entrenched in a less mobile, more polarized society. To restore balance we must act, and act now.