On the Issue of Redistribution of Wealth

After reading some interesting statistics from a recent article (click here), I decided to find out if anyone really knows what would happen if the wealth of the U.S. were distributed evenly among all people. Did a Google search and found one link that particularly addressed my question (click here). Quite an interesting, extensive and an almost unbearably exhausting scenario to peruse, and definitely one for the expert economist to debate.

I am not an expert economist, but I am a retired teacher and find that the following analogy results in an outcome dictated by economic theories and tactics. I found this gem within “one of those” emails that everyone gets – the kind that I almost always delete without reading. I’m glad I read this one.

What if a teacher graded test papers, then averaged them together to give students a common grade? Everyone would get the same grade regardless of how much they had studied. Most likely, studious individuals would not be happy, especially if they had spent a lot of time preparing for the test. For the students who had not prepared, the averaged grade might be better than their actual grade. They most likely would love the grading system. Suppose this teacher assigned grades in this manner for every test and graded work throughout the term.

The students who normally prepare would most likely begin to resent carrying the load for those who do not. To them it would become obvious that no matter how hard they prepared, they would not receive the grade they deserved. Eventually they would prepare less and less, and eventually with each progressive assignment, the averaged grade for all to share would fall lower and lower until eventually… they all receive all failing grades. None of the students would meet expectations for passing the class. They all fail the class.

Mmmmmm... get the picture? Who really wants an economic system such as that? I’m thinking that people are fooled into believing that the government “has” its own money to distribute and are forgetting that taxpayers are the suppliers thereof.