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Income gap can destabilize US: Analyst

Friday, 20 May 2016 4:18 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 20 May 2016 4:18 AM ]

This April 3, 2015 file photo shows unemployed and homeless people as they line up for a free meal and new shoes in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV has conducted an interview with Dr. Frank Emspak, the executive director of the Workers Independent News, and Lawrence J. Korb, with the Center for American Progress, to discuss poverty in the United States.

Emspak say there has been a wage freeze in the United States for 25 years and the “wages have been stagnant and costs have been gone up.” Efforts to raise the median wage have not been successful, he says.

The rich are becoming richer, but the middle class is shrinking and they lose more money because of inflation, he says.

There is a huge spike in the number of people who are going to the food pantries, he says.

He warns that the split between the rich and the middle class seems to be very destabilizing for the US. There is a “tremendous disparity” in the US because, according to him, even in a very wealthy city like New York, parts of the city other than Manhattan are in trouble. That, he says, is because there have been a wage freeze for a long time and increased expenses.

“You have an increased productivity in this country. In other words, people are earning or producing more per hour in terms of wealth. Where did that money go? And most of it has gone to the top five percent and even more to the top one percent.”

Korb, for his part, believes that despite the fact that the costs of living and taxes for savings are high, the United States stands at a higher level in terms of income, job security, health and other issues compared to other countries.

He says all the other member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are facing similar problems in terms of employment rates, education, and job satisfaction.

There is no doubt that some changes are needed to help people save money for a possible “rainy day” in the future, he admits however.

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