Accounting for the U.S. Earnings and Wealth Inequality

Wealth and education establish a cycle of intergenerational inequality. Wealthier households can provide more educational opportunities for their children, who then will have more chances to build wealth for themselves. The digital divide may have emerged as a key reinforcing mechanism of education through wealth and of future wealth through education during the pandemic. The intergenerational transmission of racial wealth inequality likely played out at rapid speed during the pandemic. We analyze the link between wealth, reliable internet and electronic device availability, remote learning time, race, and ethnicity, using the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey. We conclude that Black and Hispanic/Latinx households have less reliable internet and devices available. This goes along with fewer hours children spend on remote learning. The lack of internet and devices correlates with less wealth, as reflected in lower homeownership rates and greater housing instability. Black and Hispanic/Latinx households, in particular, are more likely to be renters and face housing instability.

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COVID-19 and instability of stock market performance: evidence from the U.S.

Financial Innovation ◽

10.1186/s40854-021-00229-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hui Hong ◽

Zhicun Bian ◽

Chien-Chiang Lee

Keyword(s):

Stock Market ◽

Linear Time ◽

Market Performance ◽

Price Volatility ◽

Wealth Inequality ◽

Return Predictability ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Link Type ◽

Stock Market Performance ◽

The U.S

AbstractThe effect of COVID-19 on stock market performance has important implications for both financial theory and practice. This paper examines the relationship between COVID-19 and the instability of both stock return predictability and price volatility in the U.S over the period January 1st, 2019 to June 30th, 2020 by using the methodologies of Bai and Perron (Econometrica 66:47–78, 1998. 10.2307/2998540; J Appl Econo 18:1–22, 2003. 10.1002/jae.659), Elliot and Muller (Optimal testing general breaking processes in linear time series models. University of California at San Diego Economic Working Paper, 2004), and Xu (J Econ 173:126–142, 2013. 10.1016/j.jeconom.2012.11.001). The results highlight a single break in return predictability and price volatility of both S&P 500 and DJIA. The timing of the break is consistent with the COVID-19 outbreak, or more specifically the stock selling-offs by the U.S. senate committee members before COVID-19 crashed the market. Furthermore, return predictability and price volatility significantly increased following the derived break. The findings suggest that the pandemic crisis was associated with market inefficiency, creating profitable opportunities for traders and speculators. Furthermore, it also induced income and wealth inequality between market participants with plenty of liquidity at hand and those short of funds.

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Overcoming the Systemic Challenges of Wealth Inequality in the U.S.

The Foundation Review ◽

10.9707/1944-5660.1541 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

Author(s):

David Peter Stroh

Keyword(s):

Wealth Inequality ◽

The U.S

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Could 79 People Solarize the U.S. Electric Grid?

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc9010026 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 26

Author(s):

Joshua Pearce ◽

Emily Prehoda

Keyword(s):

Fossil Fuels ◽

Global Climate ◽

Wealth Inequality ◽

Electric Grid ◽

Wealth Concentration ◽

Intractable Problems ◽

Upper Estimate ◽

Number Of Individuals ◽

The U.S

Although wealth inequality has many established negatives, this study investigates a potential positive, unprecedented wealth concentration makes it possible for solutions to large and seemingly intractable problems to be deployed by convincing a relatively small number of individuals to invest. In order to probe this potential outcome of inequality, this study quantifies the number of people necessary to radically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global climate destabilization from the U.S. electric grid, which is one of the largest sources of emissions. Specifically, this study determined that 1544 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology must be deployed to eliminate the use of fossil fuels on the U.S. electric grid, if PV is conservatively deployed as a function of population density. The results showed that only 79 American multi-billionaires would need to invest in PV. This investment would still leave each investor with a billion dollars of liquid assets as well as substantial long-term profits from PV. The analysis also concluded that 79 people is a conservative upper estimate of those that would need to be convinced of the usefulness of moving to a solar U.S. grid and that this estimate is likely to decrease further in the future.

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