This post reminded me – there are two ways to improve your standard of living. The conventional way is to get a lot more money. But the other way is just as rewarding – let the prices of what you buy fall. If you could keep your current income but buy a week’s worth of groceries for one dollar and a new luxury car for $100, you’d be much better off.
Too many people focus on the first way and not the second. When people speak of increasing income inequality, they are looking at the first way. But when you consider how many things poor people can afford that were, in earlier times, affordable only by the rich, you have to conclude that the poor are much better off. It’s there for everyone to see. What’s harder to see is that the poor have a much improved standard of living because of income inequality. The logic of this conflicts with some people’s preconceived notions. They see income inequality as unfair and would fix it, entirely ignoring the consequences for the poor. God help the poor if the populists prevail.
Tags: income inequality, poverty
