Description
A client has asked you to prepare a report documenting changes in inequality in the United States since the 1970s. For this report, you must come up with a question related to inequality and present data covering multiple variables that help answer your question. Some ideas for questions you could ask:
1. How has inequality changed across [gender/ethnicities/regions/education levels]? (choose one)
2. How well have government policies designed to deal with inequality worked to reduce it?
3. How have trends in US inequality (or policies dealing with inequality) compared to other countries?
These are just a small sample of potential questions. Feel free to come up with your own based on what interests you. As long as it is broadly related to economic inequality it is fine for this report. Assume that the client is familiar with basic economic concepts but is not an economist. This means part of your description should be focused on defining the variables you chose and discussing precisely what they measure. When possible, discuss the relevant tradeoffs between different measures (i.e. are there any shortcomings of the measures?) and why you chose the ones that you did. Do your best to convey why the data you are showing is important.
Explanation & Answer
Attached. Please let me know if you have any questions or need revisions.
Running head: DATA REPORT 2
1
Data Report 2
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
DATA REPORT 2
2
Data Report 2
The data report entails inequality, an economic aspect that has depicted intense debate in
every societal, professional, and government quotas over the years. Income inequality has been a
financial challenge that most governments have tried to implement different policies, such as
minimum wage, to address the issue. Schneider, Hastings, and LaBriola (2018) noted that
income inequality entails the extent to which a population depicts uneven income distribution.
This report illustrates an overview of the historical data related to the United States income
inequality data showing the corresponding changes over the years since 1967. The information
used in the report is available from the Fred Economic Data and the United States Census Bureau
that document varying economic data associated with the financial aspect in the United States.
The report addresses hourly minimum wages for nonfarm workers, and the GINI income
inequality index, a measure of income inequality in a selected economy. The information will
offer a clear insight into the changes recorded over the years concerning income inequality in the
United States.
Discussion
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage is an economic attribute focused on minimizing the income
inequality gap that has been a significant financial issue over the years. Minimum wage entails
the minimum amount of pay that an employer should pay their employees as wage. The
minimum wage policy enhances the ability to stimulate consumers’ spending, thereby improving
the corporate bottom lines and facilitating economic growth. Besides, the minimum wage also
reduces the possible turnover and promotes the reduction of income inequality. The chart below
illustrates the minimum hourly wage for Nonwfarm workers per hour in the United States.
DATA REPORT 2
3
Minimum Hourly Wage for Nonfarm Workers Per Hours
8.00
Amount in US$
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
2019
2017
2015
2013
2011
2009
2007
2005
2003
2001
1999
1997
1995
1993
1991
1989
1987
1985
1983
1981
1979
1977
1975
1973
1971
1969
1967
0.00
Years
Figure 1: Data Source: Fred Economic Data. (2020)
Inference
From the chart above, the minimum hourly wage for nonfarm workers per hour depicts
an exponential growth over the years. Nonetheless, there are instances where the minimum wage
stagnated for years, while in other durations, the minimum wages showed a sharp incline based
on economic performance. For example, most of the stagnating years coincide with the
economic recessions due to various economic aspects such as the global oil price crisis among
other economic downturns, such as the 2007-2008 financial recession to the burst of the housing
bubble.
GINI Index of Income Inequality
GINI index is an imperative measure of the extent to which the income distribution (or
consumption expenditure) deviates among individuals or households within an economy.
Notably, a GINI index of zero o close to zero indicated that the income distribution depicts
perfect or near-perfect equality. Contrary, a high GINI index, for instance, 100, represents a
perfect income...