Tag Archives: inequality

Review of Kate Raworth’s Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like the 21st-century economist.  Good read. Is Kate Raworth being utopian? I would say that Kate Raworth's work is similar to Mariana Mazzucato's in that they both propose out of the box solutions to addressing contemporary challenges. They are significant in that they are starting points for reflection, inquiry, conversation and debate.  Raworth challenges the growth model of conventional economics and Mazzucato...

The rising scholar of taxation and inequality talks to ProMarket about the problems excessive economic power poses for open political systems, how states can tackle profit-shifting, and critics who have dismissed his work on distributional issues as “a French economics.” ProMarket — The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessGabriel Zucman: “Some People in Economics Feel That Talking About Inequality Is Not What Economists Should Be Doing”Samantha...

First there was the Great Gatsby curve. Then there was the Proust index. Now, thanks to Neil Irwin, we have the Marx ratio. Each, in their different way, attempts to capture the ravages of contemporary capitalism. But the Marx ratio is a bit different. It was published in the New York Times. Its aim is to capture one of the underlying determinants of the obscene levels of inequality in the United States today—not class mobility or the number of years of national income growth lost to the...

What "they" don't want you to see unless you are one of the "them." Short. It estimates that already in 2006 in the US the richest 5% possessed greater net worth than the bottom 95% combined. Real-World Economics Review BlogCitigroup Plutonomy Reports update Edward Fullbrook

I recently wrote a ‘top 10’ overview blog post about the 2018 Saskatchewan budget. Following on the heels of that, I’ve now written an opinion piece about the budget’s announcement of a phase out a rental assistance program for low-income households. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Across Saskatchewan, rental vacancy rates are unusually high right now, making this a good time to provide rental assistance to tenants for use in private units (indeed, right now it’s a...

Why are democracies around the world failing to curb rising inequality? What explains the ascent of populist parties and politicians? In a recent paper, French economist Thomas Piketty argues not only that inequality and populism are linked – but that both can be explained by dramatic shifts in the traditional two-party system that favour different elites.... The rise of the “Brahmin Left” The persistence of the “Merchant Right Where does this leave poor and less educated voters? ......

Infographic.Real-World Economics Review BlogOxfam report on the rich-poor divide Editor

Abstract Using post-electoral surveys from France, Britain and the US, this paper documents a striking long-run evolution in the structure of political cleavages. In the 1950s-1960s, the vote for left-wing (socialist-labour-democratic) parties was associated with lower education and lower income voters. It has gradually become associated with higher education voters, giving rise to a “multiple-elite” party system in the 2000s-2010s: high-education elites now vote for the “left”, while...

Report.Economic Policy InstituteIt’s not just monopoly and monopsony: How market power has affected American wages Josh Bivens, Lawrence Mishel, and John SchmittSee alsoFrom Poverty to PowerThe World Bank’s flagship report this year is on the future of work – here’s what the draft says Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB

Time spent on home chores increases inequality among American households.… The idea that income inequality might be tempered by “home production”—with low-income families cooking meals at home rather than eating out; mowing the lawn instead of hiring a service—is both intuitively and emotionally appealing. If families can’t earn big bucks, goes the notion, at least they can provide for themselves and thereby soften the blow of poverty due to low wages and unemployment. The story aligns...