Originally Posted by tankdriver

On Tuesday's Newshour, economist Sam Bowles said:
"America is distinct in the extent to which inequality is inherited from generation to generation. The kids of rich parents have a strong tendency to be rich. And the kids of poor parents are very, very likely to be poor, to a far greater extent than is true of any other country, except for England.

That's a huge discrepancy from what we think of as the land of opportunity."


Here's his description of the Reagan economic policies - which have been essentially carried out by both parties since Reagan was first elected:


"Policies were adopted on the idea that the way to stimulate the economy was essentially to help the rich get richer on the grounds that that would stimulate investment, risk-taking, and also the fact that the ladder would get a little steeper and the rungs farther apart. That was going to stimulate people to work hard to move up that ladder."