The Rigid Economic Ladder Of New York City: The Factors That Have Led To Its Exacerbation And Their Implications

A lack of government regulation over institutional interests has contributed to New York City’s rising economic inequality by depleting the assets of low-income residents and oftentimes indirectly transferring those assets to the rich, who oversee these institutional interests. Since 1980, economic disparities have widened across the U.S., while the gap in New York City has cratered into a ravine. The predominant reason for this growing wealth polarization is the city’s heavy concentration in the finance sector alongside loose financial regulation from the government. Previous research has primarily focused on economic divides in New York City relating to wage inequality and has thus been unable to uncover the impacts of this wage divide on the average New York City resident. This study uses a difference-in-differences analysis to focus on the city’s wealth divide, the government-sponsored factors that have led to its exacerbation, and the impacts it has had on the city’s real estate and healthcare landscape. Contrary to what is often assumed, economic inequality’s modern rise in the U.S. is not solely attributable to globalization and technologization. New York City’s rigid economic structure stems in part from a lack of monitoring from both federal and local government in housing, healthcare, and the transfer of wealth.