Title: Globalization and Inequality: Sharing Wealth One of Greatest Challenges
Headings: Globalization and Inequality: Sharing Wealth One of Society’s Greatest Challenges
Globalization and Inequality: Sharing Wealth One of Society’s Greatest Challenges
Why is Inequality Increasing?
Changing Employment
Regional Inequality
William R. Hauk

Content: The top 1 percent of households in the U.S. earned less than 10 percent of the total national income in 1980 but now earn over 20 percent. Income gains among the richest 0.01 percent of households are even more dramatic. The wage premium from having a college degree has also increased significantly during the same time. The specter of a dynamic economy where the average income grows while those within the middle to lower economic classes see their standard of living stagnate has caused an increased focus on income inequality. However, the sources of this increasing inequality are considerably more disputed. Two phenomena, also prominent in the last few decades, are typically cited: globalization and technological change. Why is Inequality Increasing? Globalization can increase wage inequality in a relatively rich country by increasing the imports of manufactured goods using predominantly low-skilled labor from developing countries. Conversely, it opens more opportunities for exports in high-tech firms that use more high-skilled labor.