Saturday, February 18, 2012

Why Income Inequality is A Great and Necessary Thing

Northern Minnesota MineNorthern Minnesota Mine (Photo credit: cliff1066™)
Income inequality is a sign that an economy is functioning properly, for people vary greatly in their talents, ambition, tolerance for risk, vision. Some can lead, delegate and inspire, while others cannot. 

Some are great at collaboration, others love confronting difficult challenges. Some are great at squeezing suppliers and others good at pushing people to adopt the next wave of technology. Some know exactly what people want and others are incredibly creative. Some never stop learning.

Some do none of the above and only want everything defined for them with no risks or growth required.

How could anyone analyze all of this incredible variability and decide whether people get too much money for their contributions?

Income inequality rewards the development of all of those qualities.  We all benefit from what high producers produce.

And then they put what they earn in the bank where we can borrow it to make ourselves more productive.

How is that not beneficial for every person in the country?