Businesses, by their very nature are opportunists. They have to be in order to attain their goal of profit maximization.

Sometimes, this can lead to the exploitation of consumers by making them pay higher prices for things on which these consumers depend, such as electricity, water, or a phone service.. In these scenarios, a monopoly is established where one business can have full control of that market and therefore no competing businesses to drive the costs down. This tends to be the case in many small towns and cities where there are a limited number of businesses and thus these citizens can pay more than the regular market price for that item. In this case the business is profiting at the expense of the consumers and can do so due to the power it holds in that market. In essence we have an abuse of power and consumers have no power to change the situation because they need these items they will pay the higher prices unless the government intervenes. Consumers can also pay more than what is fair for items or services, which are specialized. The word wedding attached to any service can automatically bring the price up for things such as a cake or a catering service. Businesses here take advantage of the consumers condition, that is, one madly in love and foolishly convinced that he or she only does this once and should therefore have only the best for this day which can naturally translate into having exorbitant price tags for all services rendered on that day. In this scenario businesses are taking advantage of the emotional attachment a consumer has to the product or service purchased. A very different situation arises for the consumer when monopolies are nonexistent and instead are immersed in a competitive market. Businesses in this environment cater to the needs of the consumer and offer the lowest prices in order to remain in business. Free trade can help consumers by bringing in foreign goods at a lower price than they would have to pay if they were to import it themselves. At the same time, businesses also profit by being able to tap into resources and materials abroad that would be more expensive to buy at home for their products. In this situation, both consumers and businesses win, and that makes businesses less likely to take advantage of consumers. This is mainly because they wouldnt be able to, but also because they are profiting without engaging in monopolistic behavior. The determining factor as to when a business is abusing its power ultimately lies in the market. If it is competitive, it couldnt even if it tried, and if it were a monopoly, it would do so readily.

We live in a society, or country rather, where lineage or the so called blue blood has not been as important as the individuals abilities and achievements. We value hard work and success derived from our personal investment more so than from our familys. This personal success is no doubt made much more accessible with Education. Education can help bridge the gap between rich and poor for we have seen a strong positive correlation between income and educational attainment. Regardless of economic background, children in the U.S have access to public education through Highschool. Those children who work hard, against all their odds (poverty, unequal quality of education, family problems) and make into college will have the chance to enter a higher paying market. These individuals who make it through the system, break free from a vicious cycle of poverty and provide better opportunities for their children and future generations. We can begin to see how over time, even though those who break free can be very few at first, will multiply and generations later, more individuals will have a higher level of education and thus a better economic situation. As a population becomes more educated, so do the demands on the education system. Parents that broke from their own flawed system can demand change for their children and thus impel a change in the quality of instruction, making the schools much more uniform throughout the country. However, it isnt always the case that education can automatically translate into higher income. We take for granted the infrastructure and wealth of our country when we make such assertions. The higher paying jobs have to exist in order for education to make a difference in distributing wealth equally in a population. If we take a country like Cuba as an example, we know that citizens there can have very high levels of education, their literacy rate is one of the highest in the western hemisphere, but that does not translate into higher income levels. The difference here is the type of government and the wealth of the country. You can say that Cuba may have equality but this would not be due to education but rather because they are all equally poor due to its communist government being unable to provide better living conditions. With limited resources, a country like Cuba can be highly educated but this will do nothing to improve their condition and bring them up to par with say the U.S., as long as they are hampered by inefficiency. Mexico can be another example, perhaps more clear, of having a highly educated work force and yet the income inequality is one of the worst in the world. Public education is widespread, even at the university level; tuition is very affordable in public universities, making it easier for more people to have a higher level of education. Again, the problem is the lack of jobs, and even though Mexico is not a communist government and has many more resources than Cuba, the rampant corruption and lawlessness, has not helped Mexico to lure and maintain investors and thus become a strong economy. Without a strong economy, the job market is weak and the problem arises of having highly educated individuals, unemployed or underemployed, which does nothing to relieve the income inequality of the country.

Ultimately, education can help these countries as well, if those highly educated individuals over time remedy the problems rampant in these economies, which is more possible due to the education itself, but it will take a longer time to reach equality than it will in a country that already has these problems solved ie U.S and European countries.