Inequality as Policy: The United States Since 1979

John Schmitt

CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs from Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

Abstract: Since the end of the 1970s, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in economic inequality. While the United States has long been among the most unequal of the world’s rich economies, the economic and social upheaval that began in the 1970s was a striking departure from the movement toward greater equality that began in the Great Depression, continued through World War II, and was a central feature of the first 30 years of the postwar period. This is not due to chance circumstances but is the direct result of a set of policies designed first and foremost to increase inequality.

Keywords: inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D D3 D31 D6 D63 E E6 E61 E62 E64 E65 E66 H I I3 I38 J J5 J8 J88 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 10 pages
Date: 2009-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hpe and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:epo:papers:2009-40

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