The Daily Caller68%
Thinking Clearly about Economic Inequality (Policy Analysis) 41%
By Alex Beehler44%
7/14/2009, 4:00:00 AM
Topics: Economic Inequality, Policy Analysis
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Confirmation Bias, and False Dilemma, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 21.9% saturation with 95 hits. Analysis detected 618 faulty-reasoning hits from 433 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 45.6% and a BS Rank of 41% (9,490 of 15,985 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 59.40% of the article peer group.
Recent discussions of economic inequality,
marked by a lack of clarity and care, have confused
the public about the meaning and moral
significance of rising income inequality.
Income
statistics paint a misleading picture of real standards
of living and real economic inequality.
Several strands of evidence about real standards
of living suggest a very different picture of the
trends in economic inequality.
In any case, the
dispersion of incomes at any given time has, at
best, a tenuous connection to human welfare or
social justice.
The pattern of incomes is affected
by both morally desirable and undesirable mechanisms.
When injustice or wrongdoing increases
income inequality, the problem is the original
malign cause, not the resulting inequality.
Many
thinkers mistake national populations for “society”
and thereby obscure the real story about the
effects of trade and immigration on welfare,
equality, and justice.
There is little evidence that
high levels of income inequality lead down a slippery
slope to the destruction of democracy and
rule by the rich.
The unequal political voice of the
poor can be addressed only through policies that
actually work to fight poverty and improve education.
Income inequality is a dangerous distraction
from the real problems: poverty, lack of economic
opportunity, and systemic injustice.Recent discussions of economic inequality,
marked by a lack of clarity and care, have confused
the public about the meaning and moral
significance of rising income inequality.
Income
statistics paint a misleading picture of real standards
of living and real economic inequality.
Several strands of evidence about real standards
of living suggest a very different picture of the
trends in economic inequality.
In any case, the
dispersion of incomes at any given time has, at
best, a tenuous connection to human welfare or
social justice.
The pattern of incomes is affected
by both morally desirable and undesirable mechanisms.
When injustice or wrongdoing increases
income inequality, the problem is the original
malign cause, not the resulting inequality.
Many
thinkers mistake national populations for “society”
and thereby obscure the real story about the
effects of trade and immigration on welfare,
equality, and justice.
There is little evidence that
high levels of income inequality lead down a slippery
slope to the destruction of democracy and
rule by the rich.
The unequal political voice of the
poor can be addressed only through policies that
actually work to fight poverty and improve education.
Income inequality is a dangerous distraction
from the real problems: poverty, lack of economic
opportunity, and systemic injustice.
Will Wilkinson is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and editor of Cato Unbound.
Analysis
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