Facing Facts About Inequality

Facing Facts About Inequality

  • Submitted By: emp1
  • Date Submitted: 12/09/2013 2:46 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 745
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 80

Erika Pfeifer
Michelle Myers
ENG 1013-101
26 October 2013
Facing Facts about Inequality
“Confronting Inequality” is a chapter in Paul Krugman’s book, The Conscience of a Liberal. He asserts his view on inequality in America and how the income of Americans directly correlates with socioeconomic classes. Krugman believes society would greatly benefit from a more “equal distribution of income” and bridging the gap between the elite and lower-and middle-income classes. In Krugman’s attempts to appeal to his readers he uses ethos, logos, and pathos to effectively form his argument.
Krugman is a Nobel Prize winning economist, is a professor at Princeton, and has written several books. His status adds a great deal of expertise on the topic. Krugman further displays his reputability by only using reliable and expert sources and data from academic literatures such as, “A classic study by David Card of Berkeley and Alan Krueger of Princeton” (600). With the support of literature and data, he successfully acquires objectivity into his words, which would be more convincing than using just pathos throughout the piece and relying solely on personal experience rather than factual support. Another way Krugman gains trust among the reader is his elevated level of language and diction using words such as “moralistic pronouncements” (590), “socioeconomic status” (591), and “intergenerational mobility” (591). Krugman is able to display his knowledge without making his audience feel inferior by weaving visual aids to keep the reader engaged.
Krugman includes pathos while still being able to maintain his authority and objectivity. One technique he uses is to move the audience emotionally by addressing concerns that involve children and universal health care. When discussing finding tax loopholes Krugman says, “The hedge fund tax loophole costs the government more than $6 billion a year in lost revenue, roughly the cost of providing health care to three million children”...

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