WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 - The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:05.820 - The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. 00:00:05.820 --> 00:00:07.410 - The poor get poorer? 00:00:07.410 --> 00:00:11.880 People keep talking about the evil of income inequality. 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:13.110 - This is the living room 00:00:13.110 --> 00:00:16.170 in a $16 million penthouse apartment. 00:00:16.170 --> 00:00:17.940 - It's true that some rich people 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:19.820 have gotten absurdly rich. 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:22.190 But the other claim that they got rich 00:00:22.190 --> 00:00:25.860 while the poor people got poorer is just a myth. 00:00:25.860 --> 00:00:28.050 - As we've increased the number of billionaires 00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:31.560 around the world, extreme poverty has actually shrunk down. 00:00:31.560 --> 00:00:33.600 - Former investment banker, Carol Roth, 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.000 points out that anyone who pays attention knows 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.100 that as the rich got richer, 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:40.680 most poor people got richer too. 00:00:40.680 --> 00:00:44.700 Worldwide, more than a billion people rose out of poverty. 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:49.110 Yes, the rich got even richer, but why is that a problem? 00:00:49.110 --> 00:00:52.010 Consider poor me and rich me. 00:00:52.010 --> 00:00:56.910 Over the past 40 years, we rich Americans got 200% richer. 00:00:56.910 --> 00:00:58.260 Lucky me. 00:00:58.260 --> 00:01:00.720 - I got just 32% richer. 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:03.390 I didn't gain as much as he did, 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:04.710 but I don't see how I'm hurt. 00:01:04.710 --> 00:01:06.900 I'm 32% richer. 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.390 And yes, that's adjusting for inflation. 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:10.500 And it doesn't even count 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:14.190 all the cool new stuff innovation gave me. 00:01:14.190 --> 00:01:16.740 - And here's another misleading claim. 00:01:16.740 --> 00:01:18.420 - A lack of economic mobility. 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:20.430 - The lack of economic mobility. 00:01:20.430 --> 00:01:21.420 - Watching the news, 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.580 you'd think people born poor in America 00:01:23.580 --> 00:01:25.740 have little chance to become rich. 00:01:25.740 --> 00:01:29.190 - A striking lack of economic mobility in America. 00:01:29.190 --> 00:01:31.500 - It's true that people with rich parents 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:32.850 have a big advantage, 00:01:32.850 --> 00:01:35.880 but it's not like Americans are locked in. 00:01:35.880 --> 00:01:38.580 Economists at Harvard and Berkeley crunched the numbers 00:01:38.580 --> 00:01:40.350 and found most people born 00:01:40.350 --> 00:01:42.050 to the richest fifth of Americans 00:01:42.050 --> 00:01:45.160 fell out of that bracket within 20 years. 00:01:45.160 --> 00:01:48.480 Likewise, most born to the poorest fifth 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.580 climbed to a higher quintile. 00:01:50.580 --> 00:01:53.130 Some make it all the way to the top. 00:01:53.130 --> 00:01:55.950 One study looking at that top bracket found. 00:01:55.950 --> 00:01:59.850 - Three out of four Americans will hit that top 20% 00:01:59.850 --> 00:02:01.320 at some point in their lifetime. 00:02:01.320 --> 00:02:02.610 - Three out of four people? 00:02:02.610 --> 00:02:05.580 - Yes, there is the opportunity to have that mobility 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:07.680 and to make an amazing income in this country. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.020 - You see that if you just look at the billionaires 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:12.090 on the Forbes richest list. 00:02:12.090 --> 00:02:14.400 Most are self-made. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.320 In other words, they didn't inherit the money. 00:02:16.320 --> 00:02:19.050 They created their own fortunes. 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:23.070 But politicians and the media say that inequality itself 00:02:23.070 --> 00:02:24.270 is a huge problem. 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:27.000 - Frustrations over income inequality. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.040 - There's an inequality in this country right now 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:30.690 that is threatening to tear us apart. 00:02:30.690 --> 00:02:33.300 - It might tear us apart if people come to believe 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:35.530 that all inequality is evil. 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.010 But why is that true? 00:02:38.010 --> 00:02:41.070 Progressives like to point out that Scandinavian countries 00:02:41.070 --> 00:02:44.430 have much more equal incomes than America does. 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:46.230 [speaking foreign language] 00:02:46.230 --> 00:02:49.500 - But incomes are more equal in Afghanistan too. 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:52.830 Incomes tend to be equal when everyone is poor. 00:02:52.830 --> 00:02:55.610 Total equality isn't possible. 00:02:55.610 --> 00:02:57.610 ♪ Is if ♪ 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:01.660 - Some people are just better singers than others. 00:03:01.660 --> 00:03:05.090 ♪ Night with you ♪ 00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:07.020 - The best performer in the country. 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:10.020 - The best athletes are just physically different. 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:11.640 [upbeat music] 00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:12.840 [audience cheering] 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:14.310 - There's inequality in everything. 00:03:14.310 --> 00:03:16.050 There's inequality in free time. 00:03:16.050 --> 00:03:18.300 There's inequality in parents. 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:20.460 I don't have any parents or grandparents. 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:23.610 - We're all so different in so many ways. 00:03:23.610 --> 00:03:25.200 - I have two kidneys. 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:27.120 There are people out there who need one, 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.500 don't have one that functions. 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:30.570 Should the government be able to take my kidney 00:03:30.570 --> 00:03:32.340 because somebody else needs it? 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:35.010 - How is it not wrong that some people have 00:03:35.010 --> 00:03:36.720 so much more than others? 00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:37.740 - What's wrong about that? 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:38.730 It's absolutely right. 00:03:38.730 --> 00:03:39.560 - It's unfair. 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:40.620 - Life is unfair. 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:41.940 Unfair is good. 00:03:41.940 --> 00:03:44.370 Unfair is a feature, it's not a bug. 00:03:44.370 --> 00:03:45.750 - Something to think about 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:47.100 next time someone tells you 00:03:47.100 --> 00:03:50.550 that it's government's job to make everyone equal. 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:54.690 [logo scratching]