How to Distribute a Nation's Income to Different Population Segments

When a government or an institution spends money on a particular project or a program, the process is known as program expenditure. A program is constituted by all the activities intended to achieve a specific objective. Some of the common expenditures include recurring expenditures personnel service, capital outlay, maintenance expenses, expenditures for local or foreign funded projects. Program budgets are constructed prior to undertaking a project to plan for expenses. Governments prioritize programs according to their importance. In particular, programs that contribute to the wellbeing of citizens are prioritized. Each program has its sub programs and each subprogram has its expenditure. Income distribution refers to the process of distributing a nation’s income to different population segments. This distribution can either be done by the national government or the state government. The term income distribution is purely statistical. Essentially, no income is distributed. Instead, income distribution happens naturally through individuals’ economic activities such as investments, savings, and market forces. The United States is one among the many countries that experience inequality in income distribution (Tailford, 2019) . Ideally, a fair income distribution system should ensure that everyone has the same income. However, this is not the case. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. Income inequality today is as bad as it was in the 1920s. Lack of employment opportunities and the high cost of living have made matters worse. Income distribution is more of a political process. It is for this reason that china has communism and the United States embraces capitalism. Business owners are constantly looking for talented employees who can boost companies’ productivity. However, while there is an endless stream of qualified and talented potential employees, most companies find it difficult to retain such talent. It is for this reason that most companies use incentives to persuade employees to stay. Incentives are objects or items of value that encourage employees to do more. It is however important to note that employers must be careful when giving incentives lest they create entitled employees. Different companies use different types of incentives to retain and motivate employees. The most common type of employee incentives is monetary compensation. Companies use bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and salary raises to reward employees’ achievements and to encourage them to work harder. Some companies prefer non-monetary incentives such as recognizing employees for their good work by praising them or presenting them with certificates of achievement. When employees are praised or recognized in the presence of other employees, they feel appreciated and they become motivated. As a result, their productivity is enhanced. Other incentives include organized company parties where employees get to enjoy time off work. Crime is a policy problem for every government. In particular, the United States, experiences different types of criminal activities in different regions. While one neighborhood may be grappling with gang violence and police brutality, another neighborhood may be grappling with break-ins and homicide (Bureau of Justice Statistics) . The government has measures in place to ensure that criminal activities do not get out of hand. Among the common measures of deterring criminal activities include deploying law enforcement agents to crime prone areas and community policing. It is however difficult to determine whether crime is being solved through governmental action. This fact notwithstanding, crime statistics can be used to establish whether government led efforts are effective at fighting crime. For instance, if the number of homicides decrease substantially over a period of six months, this clearly indicates that government led efforts are bearing fruit. Contrastingly, if the number of break-ins and muggings increase in a particular region, then the government may be blamed for lack of action. Poverty in the United States is a real problem. In 2018, it was estimated that 38.1 million people were living in poverty in the United States (Semega, Kollar, Creamer… et al., 2019). There were also more poor single parents than married couples. Despite an annual increase in household income, poverty levels did not go down a year later. The increasing rate of poverty in the United States is attributed to lack of adequate employment opportunities that can accommodate all Americans. Poverty has contributed to food insecurity as well as the high crime rates. Generally, the Gross Domestic Product is often used to indicate the health of the United States economy. However, the GDP does not clearly indicate improvements in the state of poverty. Therefore, an appropriate indicator of the success of government efforts to reduce levels of poverty is statistical data from agencies that offer food stamps. A report indicating that the number of people receiving food stamps has gone done considerably would indicate that government efforts to end poverty are working. Illegal immigration is an emotive topic. It is the kind of topic that divides the American political; class right in the middle. It is for this reason that president Trump proposed building a wall on the United States-Mexico border. This border would substantially reduce the number of people who get to the United States illegally. Those opposed to illegal migration indicate that foreigners are putting a strain on the American economy (Jordan, 2020) . In particular, the opponents of illegal migration insist that the American healthcare system is overstretched by medical bills by illegal immigrants. Most of these medical bills are paid by working Americans through high taxes. Moreover, most of the foreigners are allegedly taking away American jobs thus contributing to high unemployment and poverty rates. While the wall has not yet been constructed, president Trump’s administration has put measures in place to reduce the number of people who stay in the United States illegally. One of th e measures includes banning citizens of particular countries from seeking refuge in the United States. This measure was undertaken with the primary objective of reducing terrorist activities on U.S. soil. Moreover, the United States stopped offering green cards for a while. In the same breath, thousands of individuals were deported back to their original countries. To measure the effectiveness of government efforts to end illegal immigration, we can assess improvements in healthcare delivery as well as job opportunities. If Americans can confidently say that they are receiving quality medical attention and increased job opportunities as a result of a reduced immigrant population, then one can conclude that the government’s efforts are working. The greater the cost of an alternative, the less likely it is that the alternative will be pursued. This argument assumes that most people are in favor of the less costly alternative which is not true. There are individuals who will go for the costlier alternative for they believe the higher the price the higher the quality. The argument is also an erroneous generalization. Undoubtedly, the majority of people are in favor of cheaper prices. However, the decision on whether to choose a particular alternative or not depends on the type of alternative in question. At times, people go for the less costly alternatives not because they want to but because they are not in a position to go for their chosen alternative which is costlier. The enforcement of the maximum speed limit of 55 mph increases the costs of exceeding the speed limit. This statement does not make sense. It is not the enforcement of the speed limit that increases the costs of exceeding the speed limit but the driver’s decision to disregard the speed limit. The costs of disregarding the speed limit are still high even with the current speed limit. The mileage death rate fell from 4.3 to 3.6 deaths per 100 million miles after the implementation of the 55-mph speed limit. The mileage death rate fell not because of the enforcement of the speed limit but because of a change in the drivers’ over-speeding habits. The 55-mph speed limit (National Speed Law of 1973) has been definitely successful in saving lives. The 55-mph has encouraged drivers to embrace safe driving. As a result, thousands of lives have been saved. The enforcement of tougher penalties for drivers who exceed the recommended speed limit is the reason why most drivers embrace safe driving. People are still dying from road accidents even with the enforcement of the 55 mph speed limit. 

References 

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (n.d.). Violent Crime . Retrieved from Bureau of Justice Statistics: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=31 

Jordan, M. (2020, February 26). A Mexican Exodus Is Helping Shrink the Undocumented Population . https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/us/undocumented-population-study-mexicans.html 

Semega, J., Kollar, M., Creamer, J., & Mohanty, A. (2019, September 10). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018 . https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2019/demo/p60-266.html 

Tailford, T. (2019, September 26). Income inequality in America is the highest it’s been since Census Bureau started tracking it, data shows . https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/26/income-inequality-america-highest-its-been-since-census-started-tracking-it-data-show/