Posted on 01/24/2016 6:51:30 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Many white Americans like to believe the United States is a country with a level playing field, where everyone has a fair chance of making it. But a recent Bloomberg article states that race has a lot to do with your economic success. Bloomberg gathered data from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Writer Victoria Stilwell also posed the question: Would it be possible to calculate the odds of being a millionaire for anyone in the U.S., based on age, education and race?
The economists, who had already conducted extensive research on the subject, found that race plays a significant role in an individualâs earning power.
âItâs a false narrative to say race doesnât matter in the United States,â said William Emmons, a senior economic adviser at the St. Louis Fed. âIt demonstrably does in the results we keep coming upon.â
The bank researchers found that a middle-aged, college educated Asian had a 22.3 percent chance of being a millionaire. Whites had a 21.5 percent chance, Hispanics a 6.8 percent chance and Blacks had a 6.4 percent chance of being a millionaire.
The researchers found education increases an individualâs earning potential. But they also found that a college education only increased a Black personâs chances of becoming a millionaire by 1 percent.
Interestingly enough, the economists found that a white high school graduate had about the same odds of being a millionaire as a middle-aged, Black graduate degree holder. This is not new information. Many studies have showed that Black people who possess degrees from top-notch universities still have high levels of unemployment. White high school graduates have better employment rates than Black college graduates. This calls into question the value of expensive college degrees. If Blacks are spending small fortunes on college education and not improving their job prospects, they maybe looking at things the wrong way.
Former finance professor Dr. Boyce Watkins encourages Black people not to get caught up in the âcorporate plantationâ and create their own businesses.
âWe have to get rid of the lie which says that going to school will guarantee a black man a good job,â said Watkins on his website Financial Juneteeth. âThe right kind of education is valuable, but youâre still going to be Black.â
Many other Americans are beginning to question the value and cost of college education. According to U.S. News & World Report, a study of 2,000 graduates found more than half believed recent college graduates will see lower returns on their education investment than 10-15 years ago.
Emmons said that while the information might be depressingly familiar, it is still useful. He said it was important lawmakers understand the underlying issues if they are going to pass policies to address inequality.
âA lot of what people talk about as responses to inequality of this sort or that sortâ theyâre probably not going to make much difference given that these underlying factors seem to be so powerful,â Emmons said.
He added that the research shattered the myth of everyone starting out equal.
âWe all come out in the birth lottery with different endowments,â Emmons said. âStarting from that point, what can you do to move yourself in a direction youâll be happy with? Thatâs what weâre really trying to get at.â
Now A’int That Just A Big THANG?
Majors mean everything, because teachers and journolists, and black studies majors, and lesbian diversity majors, do not have the earning potential of engineers, doctors, lawyers and scientists. These people - myself one of them - put long hours in up front, much more do than most other majors, who I remember watching go to parties while I went to the library or stayed in, to study.
If you’re black and can dunk a basketball, you have a good chance of becoming a millionaire. If you’re white and can do the same. Chances not so good.
Liberals: confusing cause and effect for two centuries now.
Shhhhhhh! Can’t you keep the secret?
More likely its culture not skin color.
But, but, but Asians have darker skin than whites... isn't it all about skin color?
I guess I'd start with the first two sentences, which try to make the claim that outcome implies opportunity.
Marriage plays a significant role.
Marrying causes people to be more likely to save for retirement and kids’ college compared to equal peers who just live together.
3/4 of black kids are illegitimate
1/3 of white kids are illegitimate
1/2 of Hispanic kids are illegitimate
When you have two kids by two different men, you don’t have a united front for planning and managing finances OR economies of scale because his money goes to other kids and his own rent.
And this is separate from Asian parents demanding kids earn degrees and get jobs, versus many blacks who are fine with finishing a votech degree and working part time. It ignores the black kids beat up by other black kids for acting white, and colleges who give scholarship preferences to the black kid who wants to be an activist over the one who wants to be a financial analyst.
They are blaming race, when it is literally cultural differences in marriage rates and valuing education.
If you want to be rich, do what rich people do.
If you want to be poor, do what poor people do.
Ain’t that complicated.
Or sell drugs on the side while living with mama or grandma.
“Determines”
That indicates causation, when all they really have is correlation.
A type of lying really.
Race has nothing to do with it... Persistence and drive... Not to mention a penchant for hitting a three pointer
Clinton gore defined millionaire as those who make 250k a year... Someone making 30k a year for 34 years will also meet that logical conclusion...
Lies and statistics?
When I saw those ranking that’s the first thing I noticed. Odd that the researchers didn’t point that out. Then when you add in the different cultural attitudes to work and education it becomes pretty obvious. Read the Asian mother’s book—called Tiger Mother, I think.
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