Social Policy

Inequality

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Economic inequality reflects factors as diverse as education, IQ, lack of opportunity and discrimination. But government policies also make a difference. Today the top 1 percent of Americans own 38 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 40 percent possesses less than 1 percent of U.S. wealth. Globally, economic disparities pose even greater challenges as they can contribute to cycles of poverty, disease, social unrest and political turmoil.

A homeless woman watches as people take part in the Easter Bonnet Parade in New York (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri).

Opinion

How Much Do Americans Care About Income Inequality? Part II

May 15, 2013, Scott Winship

Following a critique of a recent study speculating that rising income inequality has eroded trust in government, Scott Winship examines the methods of the study to find that they exaggerated households' economic hardship. Winship argues such studies overstate both the extent of economic insecurity and the strength of the evidence that income inequality is harmful.

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