‘Money is not trickling down from rich to poor’: Wealth inequality could sway US voters
Analysts said that wealth inequality has stoked social discontent and is a major driver of increased political polarisation.
A strike captain, right, leads the chants as strikers walk a picket line outside Warner Bros., Discovery, and Netflix offices in Manhattan, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA held a joint Latine Picket, presented by the WGAE Latine Writers Salon, the WGAW Latinx Writers Committee, and the SAG-AFTRA National Latino Committee. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
WASHINGTON: The United States has seen a storm of workers’ strikes in recent months.
Bloomberg Law’s data showed 177 work stoppages so far this year, including those by teachers, hotel workers, Starbucks baristas and Amazon delivery drivers.
One of the most prominent employee disputes at the moment is the combined writers and actors strikes, which has upended Hollywood, leaving multiple shows in limbo or cancelled.
Analysts said wealth inequality has stoked social discontent and is a major driver of increased political polarisation.
GROWING WEALTH DISPARITY
In the US, CEOs’ pay grew by 1,460 per cent between 1978 and 2021, according to a report by think tank Economic Policy Institute.
In contrast, compensation for the typical worker grew by just 18.1 per cent, the same study showed.
As the average American worker grows increasingly disgruntled with the widening wage inequality, that could change the way voters mark their ballots at the polls.
“In this day and age, the disparity between the ultra-wealthy and the people who are just working jobs that help all of us out is too big. I will always consider a pro-union candidate higher than an anti-union candidate,” said a US voter.
Another voter told CNA: “I believe in unions. I don't know if that will sway my vote, but I think that (workers) have every right to strike and I'm on their side.”
“I definitely want to support elected officials that care about the labour movement, and they should care about equal pay for all workers,” said a third voter.
JOE BIDEN’S BIDENOMICS
US President Joe Biden touts himself as a leader who cares about workers, often describing himself as the most pro-union president ever.
“It’s about our progress building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” he said earlier this month during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I came to office determined to move away from the trickle-down economics and to focus on the middle class. Because when the middle class does well, everybody does well. The middle class built America, but unions built the middle class.
“This is in stark contrast to the conservative Republican view — the so-called MAGA (Make America Great Again) view — which is focused on corporate profits,” Mr Biden added.
He has termed his approach “Bidenomics” – a phrase he and his fellow democrats are likely to increasingly use on the campaign trail in his reelection bid.
HOW HAS BIDENOMICS FARED?
Experts said Bidenomics has boosted the US economy, fueling hopes that the country can dodge a much-speculated recession.
However, they added it is difficult to convince Republican voters that Mr Biden’s economic plan will work for them too.
“We have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic quite well and the American economy is quite good. We have jobs, and inflation is on the way down,” said Ms Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at think tank Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies programme.
“But this is a hard thing for Democrats to sell to the Trump voter,” she added, referring to those supporting frontrunning Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
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Even some of the richest Americans agree it is a tough message to sell. They are concerned that businesses will not be able to thrive in an economy where the wealth disparity is too large.
“We are trying to explain to people that money is not trickling down from the rich to the poor. Every time somebody pays their phone bill or their rent, that money trickles up to the rich investors who own those companies,” said Mr Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of high-net-worth Americans.
“It is very bad when we have a lot of people in our country that don't make enough money to participate in our society, because … you can't build a business in a place filled with people that don't make enough money to live on.”
Despite falling inflation and job growth, Mr Biden’s poll numbers are not improving.
Observers said if the president is unable to find a way to get his economic message across, it could be a problem as he fights to regain the White House next year.
