29 Dec Is inequality in the

ECO202 – Microeconomics

Unit 7 Assignment: Inequality

Due: Sunday by 11:59 pm at the end of Unit 7.

Is inequality in the U.S. rising or falling?

As we have seen, our economic well-being depends on many factors: income, wealth, pre-or post-tax earnings, family size and whether or not earnings postponed to the future.

Consequently, it isn’t surprising that politicians can find data to support nearly any position about whether Americans are getting poorer or richer. In this week’s assignment, you will investigate the use of data by two economists who reach entirely opposite conclusions.

Steven Pearlstein, conservative business columnist for the Washington Post, argues that the middle class continues to do well. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052902001.html

On the other hand, Jared Berstein, writing in the liberal The American Prospect magazine maintains that living standards have slipped for the middle class. http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_income20040826

Or: http://prospect.org/article/squeeze-0

Respond to the following key questions:

1. What are the strongest arguments presented by each side?

2. What are the weakest arguments presented by each side?

3. What additional data would you like to have in order to determine who is correct?

Your final product will be a paper that:

• Addresses each of the four questions above in total.

• Is APA fortatted.

• The body is to be 2 pages minimum.

The requirements for your assignment are:

1. Answer each question fully

2. Define the overall subject of each question.

3. Cite at least three (3) resources from this week’s materials.