Janet Yellen: Wealth Disparity & Inequalty
on Saturday, October 18, 2014Janet Yellen Money Quotation saying no gains for most Americans in real income for decades, but great growth for the wealthy. Janet Yellen said:
“The past few decades of widening inequality can be summed up as significant income and wealth gains for those at the very top and stagnant living standards for the majority” — Janet Yellen
In this quote, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is describing the trend of growing economic inequality in recent decades. She notes that there have been large increases in both income and accumulated wealth (“gains”) for those at the very top of the distribution. However, for most people (“the majority”), living standards have stagnated and not improved meaningfully.
Yellen appears to be suggesting that this widening gap, where the top earners and richest individuals have reaped substantial benefits while others have not seen real gains, effectively summarizes the issue of increasing inequality over the past few decades according to her perspective.
The quote implies addressing this problem should involve policies that can help more people’s livelihoods progress, not just a minority at the top.