Microeconomics class; News Article Analysis Essay

Microeconomics class; News Article Analysis - Essay Example According to research by the IMF, what is important is consistency in wealth creation, which eliminates inequality at the long run. Other economics believe that, poverty does not arise from inequality, but the move by the government to increase tax against the rich in efforts of ensuring equal distribution of wealth. Countries that focus more on wealth distribution face lengthy periods of slow economic growth. This is because the level of spending within the county is not only low, but also not uniform. According to the article, unequal countries are poor in terms of social indicators, for example, achievements in education, compared to countries that have equality in income distribution. This is an indication that poor families find it hard to invest in education, which pushes them to higher levels of poverty. Up to some levels, redistribution of wealth does not affect wealth creation. For example, in countries with substantial redistribution, the growth in wealth per individual is not substantially lower. However, countries with more redistribution may face shorter growth spells (The Economist). According to the article, there is a positive correlation between wealth creation and income inequality. In other words, the more unequal a country is, the more the rate of income growth. High-income inequality means that only a small proportion of the population within an economy controls the wealth. Therefore, consumption within the economy is as well concentrated within the small population. There is a direct association connecting wealth creation within an economy and the level of expenditure or consumption. In unequal countries, the level of consumption is low because it is concentrated within a few citizens that own resources. Therefore, there is a lack of enough expenditure to spur growth. Developed countries across the world, create more wealth than the developing countries. This is because the level of expenditure within the economies is

Enlightenment Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Enlightenment - Term Paper Example The Enlightenment followed the Renaissance and the Reformation periods of Europe and is included in what has been termed the Age of Reason. Those who championed the Enlightenment such as Voltaire, John Locke, David Hume and Thomas Paine, among many others, dismissed superstition, irrational thought and oppression by the ruling authorities which put them at odds with the monarchies of the time and the Catholic Church. Enlightenment â€Å"thinkers† were primarily Deists who questioned the authority of church institutions and whether their influence was a positive for society. Though not advocating the devolvement of religion, they embraced scientific analysis and rational conclusions based on evidence rather than the suppression of knowledge long supported by the Church throughout the dark ages. Enlightenment philosophers sought to deliver people from the constraints of religion and set the standard for secular morals and politics. To them, Christianity celebrated human sufferin g and poverty while preaching undeserved forgiveness. The Church hierarchy was institutionally corrupt, their actions to oppress the common people appalling and lust for power insatiable. Enlightenment thinkers thought themselves courageous for speaking out against Christianity which they thought was born from the decadent Roman Empire and responsible for ushering in the deeply superstitious and depraved dark ages. Expectedly, theologians of that time reacted negatively to the enlightenment philosophers whose influence was growing among both intellectuals and the common man. (Eliot, Stern, 1979). Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752) among other church officials staunchly defended Christianity to the flock while challenging the rational of deist thought. Butler stressed religion that spoke to the heart and not cluttered by thoughts of the mind. The emotional backlash among the faithful to this â€Å"heretical† movement was significant and extensive sparking a new movement in the o pposite direction. Pietism, started by brothers John and Charles Wesley in 1738, stressed strict adherence to church teachings and that enlightenment was a tool of the Devil trying to poison people’s minds and lead them away from God. By the late1700’s, pietism and rationalism were very much in conflict with one another. Advocates of each diametrically opposed position disagreed fervently on religious ideals. They did, however, concur on the matter of religious freedom. In addition, both pietists and rationalists felt they were outside the mainstream; both feared persecution and acknowledged the blatant, historic abuses propagated by religious institutions. Interestingly, both movements, each considered radical for the time period, were considered similarly threatening to the state and church institutions which had an interest in maintaining the status quo. (Lewis, 1992). A few of the more progressive members of the clergy tolerated ideas born of the Enlightenment, a f ew even embraced many of the base philosophies. Unfortunately for the movement, various factions involved with the French Revolution distorted and misused concepts of the Enlightenment. Some, intent of banishing the Christian Church from France along with its oppressive tactics, did so under the banner of Enlightenment although none of the philosophers of the time advocated this overreach. As a result of this distortion, the movement was vilified by both