Poll: If all Americans were given $1,000,000

[NoBushSpokenHere]

would the people who are now poor be poor in another 2 years or would they capitalize on the opportunity?


Edited to add:
Ignoring economics - Just your thoughts on the disparity between the rich and poor - Would the people who were rich, be the only ones to be rich in 2 years or would the poor become poor again? See comments below for an explanation of why I posted the poll.

[tk2kewl]

1. why not just ask the question about the population in general?

what percentage of the population would blow the mil? I say half regardless of their current situation

[marmar]

3. Agreed...

Why pathologize the poor? This sounds like something O'Reilly or Hannity would say.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

7. The reason I ask the question is because

my Dad often had this debate with Republicans. The republicans were under the opinion that if everyone was given a mil, the ones who are rich now would be rich in 2 years while the poor would blow the money and become poor again.

My Dad, and I have always disagreed with this. We feel this country functions to prevent the poor from moving up and for the rich to become richer. We feel if the poor is given the same opportunities as the rich, they would be able to remain wealthy. This opinion is one that I believe most of us at DU agree with.

Created the poll to check the water, so to speak.

[marmar]

9. Claro que si...

I agree with you and your dad.

[fighttheevilempire]

13. like he said, only not....

"The republicans were under the opinion that if everyone was given a mil, the ones who are rich now would be rich in 2 years while the poor would blow the money and become poor again."

I'd have to say the creation of the middle class basically debunks this theory cold. The middle class was created from the poor, who through hard work and a bit of luck were able to establish some wealth. If his theory were true, all of those who entered the middle class would have squandered their wealth and would now be in line at the soup kitchen.
The rich have hated the middle class from day one. It will always be so.

[tuvor]

2. Wouldn't inflation be insane?

Back at square one in a couple of years, no?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. That's what I think, too, judging from what happened to the

housing market in Oregon after a significant number of Californians sold their $1 million houses and came up north flush with big bucks.

[RobertSeattle]

5. Um, we'd have hyperinflation.

[davepc]

6. if you give a lot of people a million dollars...

then a million dollars isn't worth a million dollars anymore.

[Sandpiper]

8. Other: Our currency would be worth a whole lot less than it is now

And 1 million dollars wouldn't have nearly the buying power that it presently has.

[JVS]

10. I'd say that most would be poor again, but it would take more than 2 yrs

You'd have to work hard to piss that away so quickly

[CrispyQ]

11. I think you'd see a much more positive influence on the

economy & personal lives if you offered $5,000, not one mil.

Just my opinion, but it is based on the fact that I think there are millions & millions of people that $5k would make a huge difference in their lives.

Maybe I'm naive. And admittedly, I don't know much about economics.

[Fescue4u]

12. Even more people would be poor immediately

Hyper inflation would suddenly occur. 1 mil would be nothing. Houses that cost $100k today, would now cost $1 mil or more.

SO the poor would stay poor, and the former middle class earning 50k a year would now be poor also. i.e. the economy would be destroyed

I understand the essence of your question though, and ignoring the mechanics of economics for a moment, unless the recipients learning some money management skills in a hurry, most would be poor again soon.

I forget the exact statistic, but something like 30% of lotto winners (who take the lump sump), end upn in bankruptcy with a decade or less.

[unrepuke]

14. If everybody started off equal, whatever the amount, some, the

predators, would immediately grab from the others through stealth, theft, and manipulation, and very quickly the balance would tip - the sharks would come out with most of the wealth and there would be some, the foolish, who would lose out big time right away. It wouldn't take 2 years.

My 2¢

[onehandle]

15. Hamburgers would be $10,000.

I'd convert mine to gold and be in Europe within 24 hours because you can't ignore the economics.

You should have asked: "If a thousand people proportionally representing the wealth spread of Americans were given $1,000,000..."

You need a test sample, not everybody.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

16. True, I will edit again :) n/t

[NoBushSpokenHere]

17. Too late to edit ........lol n/t