The Political Economy of Inequality

During the last few decades, the gap between the incomes, wealth and living standards of rich and poor people has increased in most countries. Economic inequality has become a defining issue of our age. In this book, leading political economist Frank Stilwell provides a comprehensive overview of the nature, causes, and consequences of this growing divide. He shows how we can understand inequalities of wealth and incomes, globally and nationally, examines the scale of the problem and explains how it affects our wellbeing. He also shows that, although governments are often committed to ‘growth at all costs’ and ‘trickle down’ economics, there are alternative public policies that could be used to narrow the gap between rich and poor. Stilwell’s engaging and clear guide to the issues will be indispensable reading for all students, general readers and scholars interested in inequality in political economy, economics, public policy and beyond.

Preface Preliminaries 1. Mind the Gap 2. Incomes, Wealth, Poverty and Equity Patterns 3. Scales and Shapes of Inequality 4. Shifting Shares 5. Multi-dimensional Inequalities Processes 6. Explaining Who Gets What 7. Driving the Disparities Problems 8. Hazards to Handle: Opportunities to Grasp 9. Towards Happier Societies? Policies 10. Redistribution 11. Progressive Pre-distribution 12. A Global Challenge Prospects 13. Impediments to Equity 14. Making the Future References Index