Any student, researcher, or #OWS protestor interested in income distribution and income growth should definitely be aware of this resource: The World's Top Incomes Database. (hat tip to Krugman, from whom I learned about it). It's a very powerful database combined with a very easy to use interface that allows you to extract exactly the … Continue reading Awesome Resource – The World Top Incomes Database
inequality
Income Inequality: Worse in US than Egypt/Tunisia
Washington's blog observes: Egyptian, Tunisian and Yemeni protesters all say that inequality is one of the main reasons they're protesting.However, the U.S. actually has much greater inequality than in any of those countries. Specifically, the "Gini Coefficient" - the figure economists use to measure inequality - is higher in the U.S. [Click for larger image] … Continue reading Income Inequality: Worse in US than Egypt/Tunisia
Guard Labor « unsettling economics
More on the concept of "guard labor" as an unproductive use of resources in a private property economy with strong inequality of income/wealth. This is from Perelman's blog, Unsettling Economics My article on Guard Labor is in the new issue of Dollars and Sense. It is extracted from my forthcoming book, The Invisible Handcuffs. http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2010/0110toc.html … Continue reading Guard Labor « unsettling economics
Inequality Matters and Redistribution of Income Helps the Economy
Inequality matters, and contrary to much "conventional wisdom", income redistribution can and does work in man countries. In fact, the evidence is that it results in faster growing and more productive economies. (Hat tip to Mark Thoma for this summary. I strongly urge readers to go to Born Poor?, by: Corey Pein: and read the … Continue reading Inequality Matters and Redistribution of Income Helps the Economy
Is The American Dream A Myth?
via National Journal Magazine - Is The American Dream A Myth?. In the generation after World War II, the median income roughly doubled, increasing faster for those on the lower rungs of the ladder than for those at the top. Since 1979, the median income has advanced much more slowly overall, and it has grown … Continue reading Is The American Dream A Myth?
Countries-with-the-biggest-gaps-between-rich-and-poor
One of the ways economists measure income distribution is through the use of "Gini coefficient". The Gini coefficient measures relative income distribution on a scale of 0-100. A Gini of 100 means 1 person has all of the income in a country and everybody else has zero. A Gini of zero means everybody in the … Continue reading Countries-with-the-biggest-gaps-between-rich-and-poor
US income gap widens as poor take hit in recession – Yahoo! News
Not much else to say: The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets.The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans — those making more than $138,000 each year — earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living … Continue reading US income gap widens as poor take hit in recession – Yahoo! News
Economic Inequality: The Wall Street Journal is Just Wrong | It Could Happen Here, Bruce Judson’s Blog
Excellent analysis of income inequality data in U.S. and refutation of the view that the U.S. has not had rising income inequality: Economic Inequality: The Wall Street Journal is Just Wrong
EconProph 