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Is there less wealth inequality in the United States today than in the 1960s?

1) True
2) False

1 Answer

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Final answer:

Wealth inequality in the United States has increased since the 1960s, contrary to the idea of decreased inequality. Economic restructuring and supply-side economics since the 1980s have exacerbated this disparity. Tools like quintile measurements demonstrate the growing wealth gap through the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The accurate response to the question of whether there is less wealth inequality in the United States today compared to the 1960s is: 2) False. The market revolution, which brought significant social and economic changes, did indeed alter the landscape of the U.S. economy. However, from the market revolution to present times, wealth inequality has increased rather than decreased.

Starting in the 1980s, a combination of economic restructuring and supply-side economic policies led to accelerated disparity. This period saw a shift away from manufacturing, which had previously provided solid middle-class incomes, and a change in tax policies that often favored the wealthy. As a result, although the economy has grown, income inequality has worsened because the gains have not been evenly distributed across the population.

Moreover, the Great Recession of the late 2000s exacerbated these trends, further deepening the wealth gap. Analyses such as the Federal Reserve Bank's Survey of Consumer Finance have continuously confirmed that wealth distribution is far more unequal than income distribution in the United States. Through measures like quintile measurements, we can observe that disparities in income can lead to even larger disparities in wealth over time.

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