Jeremy Cloward, Ph.D.
“The…truth is that the rich are the great cause of poverty”
Michael Parenti (American political scientist, historian and media analyst)
INTRODUCTION
By almost any measure the United States is a wealthy nation. In 2014, according to the IMF, World Bank and the United Nations, the US had the highest GDP in the world – standing at more than $16 trillion dollars. China is second with a GDP just over $8 trillion dollars. In fact, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported in 2012 that the United States had the highest average wage in the world at some $55,000 dollars per year even if it that wage ranked 4th amongst the world’s nations in terms of purchasing power. However, contrary to Adam Smith’s most famous assertion about prosperity and self-interest in the marketplace, the “invisible hand” in the United States has not resulted in riches for all but instead great wealth for some, economic inequality for many and unrelenting poverty for the rest.
Read this entire feature here:Â Wealth and Poverty in the United States