Study Complicates The Debate Over Income Inequality
In the debate over income inequality, the right and left seem to agree on one point: The U.S. is the land more of equal opportunity than equal outcomes.
President Obama last month called income inequality and economic mobility "the defining challenge of our time." The president, who is set to deliver his State of The Union message on Tuesday, also promised to keep those issues front and center for the remainder of his presidency.
"While we don't promise equal outcomes, we've strived to provide equal opportunity," he said.
Historically, however, the country's policies have sought to address both. President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty created early childhood education programs and investments in poorer schools. But it also tried to address the income gap by creating social safety net programs like Medicare and food stamps.
Sheldon Danziger, president of the Russell Sage Foundation, a progressive think tank, says in the decades that followed, that approach worked. Wages rose for everyone. The economy bounced back quickly from brief recessions.
The Two-Way
Income Inequality Is The 'Challenge Of Our Time,' Obama Says