Question

This week, we cover Income Distribution. Respond to the following questions. Note: Each response should only be 3 - 5 sentences.  

1. What surprised you most while learning about this topic, and why?
2. What was the most important thing to you that you learned from this topic? Why do you think it's most important?
3. What one question remains uppermost in your mind?
4. How is what you learned this week relevant to you in your life (outside of class!)
5. What made you curious about this topic – what did you want to learn more about and why?

Answer 1

• What surprised you most while learning about this topic, and why?- The thing that surprised me most is that income inequality is not a feature of developing countries only. It is present even in developed countries to a very high degree too. Of course not as much as developing countries, but still present.
• What was the most important thing to you that you learned from this topic? Why do you think it's most important?- The most important thing I learned was that continuous government intervention is required to keep income distribution at reasonable levels. Capitalism without any intervention almost always seems to lead to highly unequal distribution of income.
• What one question remains uppermost in your mind?- Do development and inequality go hand in hand. It is clear that capitalism and open economies are engines of growth- as shown by China and India. But it also leads to higher inequality. So is there any way of not falling in this trap?
• How is what you learned this week relevant to you in your life (outside of class!)- I tried to see where my family landed in terms of income. With an annual income of around $110000, I realized that my family actually seems decently higher in the income range. This is not something I gave much thought to before.
• What made you curious about this topic – what did you want to learn more about and why?- It is curious that even among developed countries, income inequality varies so much. Scandinavian countries have lower inequality than the US. Even the US had lower inequality in the 70s and 80s. I am curious to know what changed and how we can correct it.