If there is inequality in America — and no one can accurately measure it — it is not the product of a dysfunctional inheritance system that preserves the oligarchy of one generation for the next. Rather, income and wealth inequality in America is almost entirely the result of an economic system that rewards skills and hard work, and rewards unusually savvy people extraordinarily well. This is not new to the 21st century; it has always been this way in America.
The American dream is not broken. Our economic system, however flawed with perceptions of inequality, attracts people of all abilities from around the world. People who aspire to be computer programmers, financiers, gardeners, and taxicab drivers all gravitate toward America. Parents who hope that their children may have a chance to do well and amass a small fortune come to America.
They come not because they worry about income inequality; they come precisely because they do not.
From economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth in today's NY Sun.
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