In the most recent EcontTalk podcast, host Russ Roberts interviews Steve Kaplan of the University of Chicago about income inequality.
I recommend it.
Early in the podcast, Roberts quips:
Recessions are bad for the rich. If you care about inequality per se, recessions are great.
Related articles
- “My wealth does not create your poverty.” (ourdinnertable.wordpress.com)
- Doesn’t Appear that Income “Inequality” is On the Rise (cafehayek.com)
That line caught my attention, too, and now I’m looking for the opportunity to ask some of my leftish friends the following question: “If you could reduce inequality (however you wish to measure it) by moving overall economic growth to zero, would you do so? Or would you rather have, say, annual economic growth of 4% for everyone, which would improve everyone’s life but which would also increase inequality.”
As Shikha Dalmia wrote in Reason yesterday: “… if not everyone is alarmed by dubious claims about rising Gini co-efficients, a metric that measures income inequality, is it because they are “blinkered ideologues” and “deniers.” No. Income inequality tells us zilch about the only thing that really matters: Are the lives of Americans, rich, poor, and in between, getting better or worse?”
http://reason.com/archives/2011/11/08/liberal-programs-deserve-blame-for-incom
Nice Aaron. It amazes me how much we fret over fictional and abstract constructs.