Trends in Income Inequality and its Impact on Economic Growth

Here is a link to an empirical analysis of income inequality and economic growth by Federico Cingano of OECD.

One of the main takeaways is that higher inequality (higher Gini coefficient or higher Palma ratio) results in less investment in education by households in the poorest quintiles (poorest 40% of the population), which results in less economic growth.  The study also finds that increases in the incomes of the richest households has no effect on economic growth and that redistribution policies (higher taxes for the rich and transfers to the poor) need not have an adverse impact on economic growth.

Joseph Stiglitz

We're discussing inequality in class these days, so we should learn about Joseph Stiglitz.

Here is a 2016 interview with Stiglitz at The Atlantic, where he discusses inequality, the Fed, candidates for president and economists.

Here is a short 2015 article at the Huffington Post about inequality.

Here is a short video of Stiglitz at the Ford Foundation.

Inequality, Superstars and economic growth

Here is a great article from the NYT (published in 2010) that outlines a lot of the issues we are discussing in class.