The One Percent
Oscar Aguilar
ECO/365
April 15, 2015
Antonio Billett

It is apparent that the United States has most of the richest people in the world. The question a person should ask is why? Is the United States’ school system better than that of other countries? According to a global report by education firm Pearson, the United States places 17th in the developed world for education. “Finland and South Korea, not surprisingly, top the list of 40 developed countries with the best education systems. Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore follow. The rankings are calculated based on various measures, including international test scores, graduation rates between 2006 and 2010, and the prevalence of higher education seekers.” www.huffingtonpost.com (2012). Mexico however has one of the richest men in the world Carlos Slim. Mexico does not rank in the top 20 countries according to the report by the education firm Pearson. What then considers someone to be part of the one percent? Is it their drive, determination, their political ties, was the wealth inherited? Carlos Slim came from a wealthy family, but the financial foundation that his father created in him gave him the most profit. His father had him start his own financial statements and savings book since Carlos was 11 years old, which he still has today. If looked at closely, most of the one percenters have a great financial foundation from a young age. Being able to adjust to new Hi-Tec communications and the influence of the internet was one of Carlos Slim greatest wins. He invested in and bought out a lot of the communication companies that were in Mexico, to stay ahead of the booming dot com era. Most of the one percent contributes millions of dollars yearly to charities and non-profit organization. Whether be to cut down on what the pay in taxes because most of those types of contributions are tax deductible, or because they truly want to help society is all up to them.
In the past fifty years there has been ups and downs in the economy, but since the dot com era started in the early 1990’s, we have seen a ski rocket effect on technological companies. Companies such as google, yahoo, Microsoft, apple, to name a few have seen their business soar by providing easy access to the world. Mobile technology has also come a long way than years past and most of these companies have abundantly profited from it. Bill Gates, who is at the very top of the one percenters not only has profit but has created a vast array of programs and software to keep up with the demand of technology. In my opinion, the one percent will always stay at the top, throughout history it has shown that the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Due to the way people are brought up and the class or style that they live in, entrepreneurs are more commonly or even comfortable with money and how to spend it. “The society now faces a new set of questions: How should the entrepreneurial he society now faces a new set of questions: How should the entrepreneurial disturbance in this formerly egalitarian outcome alter public policy? Should disturbance in this formerly egalitarian outcome alter public policy? Should public policy remain the same, because the situation was initially acceptable and public policy remain the same, because the situation was initially acceptable and the entrepreneur improved it for everyone? Or should government policymakers he entrepreneur improved it for everyone? Or should government policymakers deplore the resulting inequality and use their powers to tax and transfer to spread the gains more equally?” Mankiw G. Journal of economic perspective (2013)
In conclusion, this trend is beneficial to the overall well-being of the US society. More tech companies that arise mean more jobs for people, more jobs create more income and the more money Americans have, the more they spend in the community and market.
References
www.huffingtonpost.com (2012).
Mankiw G. Journal of economic perspective (2013)