It seems that as income inequality rises the middle class is shrinking. according to this article data shows that middle class household incomes remain stagnant at a near 25 year low, and the share of the nations economic gains going to the middle class has fallen to near-record lows. Also costs of  living have risen make this problem even worse. I think that income inequality is becoming more of an issue in the U.S. but that what happens when you have economic freedom. Average income of the top 20 percent of earners rose by 42.6% in inflation-adjusted terms between 1979 and 2012 but the average income of the middle 60% only rose by 9.5%

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2014/12/18/101790/as-income-inequality-rises-americas-middle-class-shrinks/

This article talks about how the wealth gap holds back economic growth. The west’s leading economic thinktank on Tuesday dismissed the concept of trickle-down economics as it found that the UK economy would have been more than 20% bigger had the gap between rich and poor not widened since the 1980s. The OECD said that the richest 10% of the population now earned 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10%, up from seven times in the 1980s. It seems that the theory of trickle down economics has been proven to not work, or it at least causes more income inequality


http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/09/revealed-wealth-gap-oecd-report

Progressives decry inequality as the world’s most pressing economic problem. But why is inequality an economic issue? This article talks about inequality and if its really a bad thing or if its somewhat a good thing. Think about a class of 10 students say all the students have the same opportunity to get an A.  lets say 5 do the bare minimum and get a C, 4 give an average amount of effort and get B's. one student goes above and beyond and gets an A+. So is it really the student who got an A's problem to make sure everyone  else gets a good grade no? Is it the teachers fault that some of the students didn't give any effort to the class? no?

 So what I'm trying to say is that everyone starts off equal its just that some people put forth more effort. The article talked about People who can use or program computers, do math or run organizations have enjoyed relative wage increases, so why don't people get these skills to get higher wages? A big reason: awful public schools dominated by teachers unions, which leave kids unprepared even to enter college. Limits on high-skill immigration also raise the skill premium.




















http://online.wsj.com/articles/john-h-cochrane-what-the-inequality-warriors-really-want-1416442460

Does Income inequality impair the American dream? In this article Elise Gould, Nick Hanauer, Edward Conrad, Scott Winship debate this question. Some economists argue that income inequality leads to unequal access to opportunity and resources like nutrition and education. But others say that income inequality is not inherently a bad thing.

They point to research that finds that countries with greater inequality also experience more economic growth. I think that income inequality is hard not to have in a country like America with so much economic freedom its hard not to have it. Some people just take more advantage off the economic freedom in America.






























http://www.npr.org/2014/10/29/359363643/debate-does-income-inequality-impair-the-american-dream

Most Americans continue to believe that hard work and ambition determine success. In this article Janet Yellen points out some trends in wealth and income inequality. She says that the significant income and wealth gains for those at the top have caused the gap in income between Americans. 

 According to  the authors of a study on Sweden it showed that they rank high in income mobility but they suspect that Sweden’s emphasis on high income taxes keep the self-made from accumulating lots of wealth, while very low taxes on capital keep wealth in rich families. Citizens of the U.S. have economic freedom and with that some people work hard and others don't so I think that income inequality is just a result of a nation of people having economic freedom. 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-21/american-income-inequality-hard-to-get-rich-harder-to-get-un-poor

In some left-leaning cities, middle class Americans are having a hard time affording to live there. It seems that liberal cities tend to have worse income inequality and less affordable housing than other cities. Across the country, rich, dense cities are struggling to provide affordable housing to the middle class. This is not really a surprise to me, cities have a small amount of space for housing and a large amount of people so its no surprise that the cost of living is higher in the cities where there is a high demand for housing and a limited supply of housing.

They did a study and found that liberal markets tend to have higher income inequality and worse affordability. "In 2010, UCLA economist Matthew Kahn published a study of California cities, which found that liberal metros issued fewer new housing permits. The correlation held over time: As California cities became more liberal, he said, they built fewer homes". 

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/why-are-liberal-cities-so-unaffordable/382045/

Brazil's consumer inflation in September reached its highest annual rate in almost three years. The consumer price index accelerated to its fastest monthly rate since April last month. That pushed its accumulated inflation over the past year to 6.75% the highest since October 2011. A normal rate for inflation is about 2%. With an election coming up this month its up to voters to decide if they want change. When prices rise and economic growth is stagnant inflation is bound to go up. The government failed on the economy and will leave a legacy of out of control inflation, low growth and a loss of credibility. I think that Brazil needs to elect a new president who will actually take care of the economy and try and increase economic growth. The presidents campaign promised better salaries, lower unemployment and higher living standards, but with high inflation none of those are possible. Brazil needs to focus on producing more and increasing the strength  of the economy which will in turn lower inflation. Inflation is not  the most important political issue for Brazil but if left alone it will become a big problem.









http://online.wsj.com/articles/brazil-inflation-at-highest-rate-in-almost-three-years-1412779231

When will central banks in the U.S. and U.K. start raising interest rates? The question preoccupies financial markets, and much turns on the answer. Unemployment has fallen a lot in both countries, its at about 6 percent in both countries this is  one percentage point above the rate central banks see as the long-term equilibrium. The real unemployment in the U.S. is about 7.5 due to factors like people who are unemployed and stop looking for a job are not counted as unemployed and many people who want full time work can only find part time work. These forms of disguised unemployment add maybe two percent to labor market slack. Central banks are worried about inflation. The banks need to decide whether or not to keep interest rates at zero of too raise them. I agree with the article that keeping interest rates at zero longer would be better than raising them too soon. As of right now inflation in the U.S. is under control the economy is doing all right. 










http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-01/inflation-panic-will-kill-the-recovery

What is the real U.S. Unemployment Rate? Many times on the news they say the real unemployment rate is this or another news source says its another thing so who's really right. Officially the U.S. unemployment rate is 6.2 but the way they calculate it is not always accurate. The unemployment rate is calculated by averaging results from eight separate samples of the population, the theory says that the eight groups should have the likelihood of being unemployed but the don't.

In the first half of 2014 the newest group was 7.5% and the oldest was 6.1%. A gap of 1.4% is pretty big, they need to find a better way to calculate unemployment, because a 1.4% gap is way to high. Depending on which place you look the unemployment rate could be a lot higher than what the official average says but different sources calculate it differently so it is best to go of the official average.














http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-27/whats-the-unemployment-rate-new-research-suggests-we-have-no-idea

Consumer prices fell for the first time in august, the first monthly decline for inflation since April 2013. Inflation had picked up somewhat during the spring but seems to be bouncing back. The index was up 1.7% in August, a little lower than the 2% annual rise. I think that the inflation will pick back up to a 2% annual rise because it seems that it was just an off year for it. Hopefully Federal officials keep a close eye on the inflation measure.

 With tame inflation rates the Feds have the ability to keep rates low without risk of the economy overheating. The article also says that weak inflation is a symptom of a sluggish five year recovery. Hopefully income gains increase and unemployment lowers. Which will cause more consumer demand and strengthen the economy.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-consumer-prices-fall-0-2-in-august-1410957115