distribution income?

Question

1. Do you think the current distribution of income in the United States is too unequal? Why or why not? What criteria do you think should be used to judge the fairness of the distribution of income? Is the final outcome more important than the process that generates the income?

Answer 1

In a capitalist economy people are paid their marginal product so when the productivity of labor increases people expect wages to increase. However in recent decades average wages have not increase with increasing productivity and we have seen growing inequality of incomes.
http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americas-wages-stagnated/
No one knows the reasons for this but the recent public outrage about illegal immigration, outsourcing, and trade with china. indicates that the public has decided that they are a likely cause of the wage stagnation. Because of the outcome people feel the process is unfair and this will lead to more social unrest, so I would say both are important.

Answer 2

Wealth is not like a big pie and people get a slice of it. It is more akin to everyone bobbing for apples, and those that are better at it or in a lucky place/get lucky apples have more then those who aren't as good.

Even that is a rough analogy.

I do not see it as to unequal. In any economy with a currency, you will see rich and poor. Otherwise why use it?

"Fairness" of wealth? I think it's fair if the high school drop-out doesn't make as much as the college graduate. And if you are talking about inheirited wealth, that was the choice of the parent, not the child(applies to poor as well as wealthy).