The rich get richer and the poor get poorer
Encyclopedia
"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" is a catchphrase and proverb
, frequently used (with variations in wording) in discussing economic inequality
. Its most common use is as a synopsis of socialist criticism of the free market
system (or "Capitalism
"), implying the inevitability of what Marx called the Law of Increasing Poverty.
, in his 1832 bank veto
, said that
William Henry Harrison
said, in an October 1, 1840 speech,
In 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley
argued, in A Defence of Poetry
(not published until 1840), that in his England, "the promoters of utility" had managed
The phrase resembles the Bible
verse
and Raymond B. Egan
. Oddly, the lyrics never actually say that the poor get "poorer;" instead it takes off from or alludes to the line, showing that it was already proverbial. They cue the listener to expect the word "poorer," but instead say
and, later:
Note too that the Kahn and Egan lyrics say "the rich get rich," not richer.
The line is sometimes mistakenly attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald
. It appears in The Great Gatsby
, as
The character Gatsby orders the character Klipspringer, sitting at the piano, "Don't talk so much, old sport.... "Play!" and Klipsprinter breaks into the Kahn and Egan song.
as a statement of fact and by supporters of capitalism as an example of an erroneous belief. Thus,
According to Marx, capitalism will inevitably lead to ruin in accordance with certain laws of economic movement. These laws are "the Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall," "the Law of Increasing Poverty," and "the Law of Centralization of Capital." Small capitalists go bankrupt, and their production means are absorbed by large capitalists. During the process of bankruptcy and absorption, capital is gradually centralized by a few large capitalists, and the entire middle class declines. Thus, two major classes, a small minority of large capitalists, and a large proletarian majority are formed.
In the United States the phrase has been used frequently (in the past tense) to describe alleged socioeconomic trends under the Ronald Reagan
and George H. W. Bush
presidencies. Defenders of the Reagan policies characterize this claim as inciting class warfare
.
Commentators refer to the idea as a cliché in discussions of economic inequality
, but one that they argue to be accurate nonetheless:
, concluding that "If some mechanism like that of the yard-sale model is truly at work, then markets might very well be free and fair, and the playing field perfectly level, and yet the outcome would almost surely be that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." — Ispolatov, Krapivsky, and Redner analyze the wealth distributions that occur under a variety of exchange rules in a system of economically interacting people. — Chung and Cox analyze a bibliometric regularity in finance literature, relating Lotka's law of scientific prductivity to the maxim that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", and equating it to the maxim that "success breeds success".
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
, frequently used (with variations in wording) in discussing economic inequality
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
. Its most common use is as a synopsis of socialist criticism of the free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
system (or "Capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
"), implying the inevitability of what Marx called the Law of Increasing Poverty.
Predecessors
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, in his 1832 bank veto
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
, said that
- when the laws undertake... to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society... have a right to complain of the injustice to their Government.
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
said, in an October 1, 1840 speech,
- I believe and I say it is true DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
feeling, that all the measures of the government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.
In 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
argued, in A Defence of Poetry
A Defence of Poetry
A Defence of Poetry is an essay by the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1821 and first published posthumously in 1840 in Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and Fragments [1839]...
(not published until 1840), that in his England, "the promoters of utility" had managed
- to exasperate at once the extremes of luxury and want. They have exemplified the saying, “To him that hath, more shall be given; and from him that hath not, the little that he hath shall be taken away.” The rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer; and the vessel of the State is driven between the Scylla and CharybdisScylla and CharybdisBeing between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom deriving from Greek mythology. Several other idioms, such as "on the horns of a dilemma", "between the devil and the deep blue sea", and "between a rock and a hard place" express the same meaning of "having to choose between two evils".-The myth and...
of anarchy and despotism. Such are the effects which must ever flow from an unmitigated exercise of the calculating faculty.
The phrase resembles the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
verse
- For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
"Ain't We Got Fun"
A version of the phrase was popularized in 1921 in the wildly successful song Ain't We Got Fun, and the phrase sometimes attributed to the song's lyricists, Gus KahnGus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
and Raymond B. Egan
Raymond B. Egan
Raymond Blanning Egan was a songwriter. He moved to the United States in 1892 and settled in Michigan where he attended the University of Michigan. His first job was a bank clerk, but he soon moved onto be a staff writer for Ginnells Music Co...
. Oddly, the lyrics never actually say that the poor get "poorer;" instead it takes off from or alludes to the line, showing that it was already proverbial. They cue the listener to expect the word "poorer," but instead say
- There's nothing surer: The rich get rich and the poor get—children;
and, later:
- There's nothing surer: The rich get rich and the poor get laid off;
Note too that the Kahn and Egan lyrics say "the rich get rich," not richer.
The line is sometimes mistakenly attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
. It appears in The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
, as
- the rich get richer[sic] and the poor get—children!
The character Gatsby orders the character Klipspringer, sitting at the piano, "Don't talk so much, old sport.... "Play!" and Klipsprinter breaks into the Kahn and Egan song.
In political and economic rhetoric
The line is often cited by opponents of uncontrolled capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
as a statement of fact and by supporters of capitalism as an example of an erroneous belief. Thus,
- The modern-day statistical work of Stanley Lebergott and Michael Cox confirms this Smithian view and disputes the commonly held criticism that under a free market the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
According to Marx, capitalism will inevitably lead to ruin in accordance with certain laws of economic movement. These laws are "the Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall," "the Law of Increasing Poverty," and "the Law of Centralization of Capital." Small capitalists go bankrupt, and their production means are absorbed by large capitalists. During the process of bankruptcy and absorption, capital is gradually centralized by a few large capitalists, and the entire middle class declines. Thus, two major classes, a small minority of large capitalists, and a large proletarian majority are formed.
In the United States the phrase has been used frequently (in the past tense) to describe alleged socioeconomic trends under the Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
presidencies. Defenders of the Reagan policies characterize this claim as inciting class warfare
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
.
Commentators refer to the idea as a cliché in discussions of economic inequality
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
, but one that they argue to be accurate nonetheless:
- It's a cliché, perhaps, to say that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". But in the 1980s and 1990s, cliché or not, that is what took place in some regions of the world, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
See also
- Capital accumulationCapital accumulationThe accumulation of capital refers to the gathering or amassing of objects of value; the increase in wealth through concentration; or the creation of wealth. Capital is money or a financial asset invested for the purpose of making more money...
- Preferential attachmentPreferential attachmentA preferential attachment process is any of a class of processes in which some quantity, typically some form of wealth or credit, is distributed among a number of individuals or objects according to how much they already have, so that those who are already wealthy receive more than those who are not...
- Matthew effect (sociology)Matthew effect (sociology)In sociology, the Matthew effect is the phenomenon where "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". Those who possess power and economic or social capital can leverage those resources to gain more power or capital. The term was first coined by sociologist Robert K...
- Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poorSocialism for the rich and capitalism for the poorSocialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor is a classical political-economic argument, stating that in the advanced capitalist societies state policies assure that more resources flow to the rich than to the poor, for example in form of transfer payments...
Further reading
— Hayes analyzes several computer models of market economies, applying statistical mechanics to questions in economic theory in the same way that it is applied in computational fluid dynamicsComputational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics, usually abbreviated as CFD, is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate the interaction of liquids and gases with...
, concluding that "If some mechanism like that of the yard-sale model is truly at work, then markets might very well be free and fair, and the playing field perfectly level, and yet the outcome would almost surely be that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." — Ispolatov, Krapivsky, and Redner analyze the wealth distributions that occur under a variety of exchange rules in a system of economically interacting people. — Chung and Cox analyze a bibliometric regularity in finance literature, relating Lotka's law of scientific prductivity to the maxim that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer", and equating it to the maxim that "success breeds success".