inequality

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Known for its caste system, India is often thought of as one of the world's most unequal countries. The 2022 World Inequality Report (WIR), headed by leading economist Thomas Piketty and his protégé, Lucas Chancel, did nothing to improve this reputation. Their research showed that the gap between the rich and the poor in India is at a historical high, with the top 10% holding 57% of national…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain All social inequalities, by definition, involve one group that has more and another that has less. Do people prefer describing inequalities in terms of advantage or disadvantage? …

For most of human history, we were caught in a stagnation trap. Improvements in technology and productivity led to population increases, and all those new people gobbled up the surplus, so that overall living standards always reverted to the historical average, barely above subsistence. Thomas Malthus, the unfairly maligned English clergyman, assumed this would always be the case. And yet, at least in the fortunate global north, things have been very different for the last century or so. How come?This is the question the…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Neoliberalism, which calls for free-market capitalism, regressive taxation, and the elimination of social services, has resulted in both preference and support for greater income inequality over the past 25 years, shows a new study by a team of psychology researchers. …

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Most Americans say they want a more equal society, yet policies aimed at increasing equality for disadvantaged groups in higher education, corporations, government, and elsewhere continue to generate backlash. …