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Inequality has become a malignant, contagious disease. It feeds, it grows, it attaches itself to nearly all aspects of life. It poisons or impedes many of our relationships. Above all, it is a threat to the health and stability of our democratic republic. It has become the major issue of our time. We can see more clearly how and why it has become so as we review eight major features of our society. Refer to the diagram below as you read.

We revisit to what extent the increase in income inequality since 1980 was mirrored by consumption inequality. We do so by constructing an alternative measure of consumption expenditure using a demand system to correct for systematic measurement error in the Consumer Expenditure Survey. Our estimation exploits the relative expenditure of high- and low-income households on luxuries versus necessities. This double differencing corrects for measurement error that can vary over time by good and income. We find consumption inequality tracked income inequality much more closely than estimated by direct responses on expenditures. (JEL D31, D63, E21)

Poetry

This paper shows that higher levels of perceived wage inequality are associated with a weaker (stronger) belief into meritocratic (non-meritocratic) principles as being important in determining individual wages. This finding is robust to the use of an instrumental-variable estimation strategy which takes the potential issue of reverse causality into account, and it is further corroborated using various complementary measures of individuals' perception of the chances and risks associated with an unequal distribution of economic resources, such as their perception of the chances of upward mobility. I finally show that those individuals perceiving a high level of wage inequality also tend to be more supportive of redistributive policies and progressive taxation, and that they tend to favor the political left, suggesting a feedback effect of inequality perceptions into the political-economic sphere. Taken together, these findings suggest that high levels of perceived wage inequality have the potential to undermine the legitimacy of market outcomes.

This paper shows that higher levels of perceived wage inequality are associated with a weaker (stronger) belief into meritocratic (non-meritocratic) principles as being important in determining individual wages. This finding is robust to the use of an instrumental-variable estimation strategy which takes the potential issue of reverse causality into account, and it is further corroborated using various complementary measures of individuals' perception of the chances and risks associated with an unequal distribution of economic resources, such as their perception of the chances of upward mobility. I finally show that those individuals perceiving a high level of wage inequality also tend to be more supportive of redistributive policies and progressive taxation, and that they tend to favor the political left, suggesting a feedback effect of inequality perceptions into the political-economic sphere. Taken together, these findings suggest that high levels of perceived wage inequality have the potential to undermine the legitimacy of market outcomes.

A critique of the APSA Task Force on Inequality & American Democracy report challenges claims that the US is experiencing a reinforcing cycle of political & economic inequality. Attention is called to countertendencies & opportunities to lessen the forces that create inequality in voice, governance, & public policy. It is maintained that political scientists must focus more on the internal dynamics/processes of groups like the Sierra Club which have the potential to create a more engaged & mobilized base. State & local factors that produce or exacerbate inequality are explored, especially the concentration of Latinos & African Americans in low-income urban areas; the ineffectiveness of policies designed to address problems of low-income minorities; & the impact of large-scale immigration. Emphasis is placed on the capacity of churches to teach the skills of participation & the importance of the "war of ideas." It is concluded that discussions about inequality must move beyond the realm of government responsibility to cultural outlets that will encourage people to imagine new forms of democratic engagement. 20 References. J. Lindroth