The Rich Get Poorer. The Poor Get ...?

I am sure that we have all heard “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” I want to take a look at that statement and see if that is true.

First, what does it mean to get richer? This is something that I don’t want to automatically equate with money. I want to define it as “To have a better standard of living over time.”

Poor would obviously be the opposite “To have a lower standard of living over time.” I think these are reasonable definitions.

Using those definitions I need to define “the rich” or people who are rich. I would say they having a higher than average standard of living. The poor would have a lower than average standard of living.

So, the people with the higher than average standard of living over time getting an even higher than average standard of living over time, while those with a lower than average standard of living get an even lower than average standard of living over time.

There is a problem with this; the standard of living in the United States has risen for everyone. Computers, T.V., and Cell phones are everywhere. These are results of a higher standard of living from the 1920s to 2010.

When the rich get richer the poor also have a higher standard of living. It may not be at the same rate or level, but wealth has a reverberating effect. Twenty-five years ago a DVD player cost $500, now I can pick one up for less than $40. Factoring for inflation, this should not logically happen. Nevertheless, the poor have a higher standard of living over the past twenty-five years.

What would happen if the rich had a lower than standard living over time? They wouldn’t have a DVD player, but neither would the poor.

If the rich get poorer,

the poor don't get rich.