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Laron BurrowsResponse to : Inequality for all

The film was centered on the overarching inequality in the American economy, the film

also served as a platform for former secturary of Labor Robert Reiche to share his views

on what can be done to fi America!s economic inequality"

The film attempts to show both sides of the economic situation in America, as we follow

a person living within the #$ and a family in the bottom %%$ of the American economy"

This shows how the director wants the viewer to see the full picture, and get a physical

understanding of drastic differences" &e see that the family in the %%$, struggling with

less than '#(( in their ban) account combined, and paying taes on up to **$ of their

income" &hereas the #$ boasts about his ability to pay around ##$ on income ta while

ma)ing more than '#( +il a year but less than '*(+il a year" ow did the divide get so

big and what can we do about it- These are the questions this film attempts to answer"

The film made heavy emphasis on Robert Reiche and his bac)ground before we are

introduced to his philosophy of economic reform" This shows the director )nows the

importance of ethos in a film li)e this" &e followed Reiche!s college .ourney to /ford,

his legacy as an author, his triumph as the secretary of labor for the B" 0linton

administration and finally his wor) as a college professor at the 1niversity of Ber)ley" It

was important for the viewer to trust the creditability of Reiche therefore the minutes

spent on his life, I thought was a smart persuasive move"

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The film then moved on to answer the question of how we got in this economic sin)ing

ship" Reiche said that the ta brea)s to the wealthy, the labor union demolition by Ronald

Regan, the globali2ation of the world mar)ets and economy coupled with the increase in

technology opened the gap between the rich and the poor" Also the stagnant wages didn!t

help the poor but has allowed for the rich to ta)e home a larger piece of the pie"

There were many proposed solutions to the economic inequality, all lead bac) to the same

well, the idea that the middle class should be brought up" The film spo)e etensively on

the effect of the middle class on the 1"3 economy, and saw the strong middle class as the

solution to the economic inequality" Because the stronger the middle class, the more they

will spend, and since consumer spending is 4($ of the 1"3 567 this is an important

sector to bring up" Reiche also said that the ta brea)s must be done away with, and the

lobbyist must be stopped from influencing politics because this will not be a democracy

anymore" 3impson also noted that there may soon come a time where you can buy a

7resident"

I agree that the middle class is important and should be strengthened but the way we get

there is the tough economic predicament" &ages should be increased for the middle class,

but this will decrease the profitability of the company, this decrease will not be good with

investors and the company will lose investments" Also the 08/!s will have less pay due

to a higher wage for wor)ers, increasing the 08/!s incentive to put money in offshore

ban)s and )eep the wages where they are" The film did a great .ob of describing the

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problem, but when it came to describing the solution to the problem, the film didn!t do a

great .ob of that"