Which aspect of US economic inequality is most worrying?
There are many means by which government and the market can improve opportunities
Inequality has been seizing ever more of the public's attention in recent years, reflected everywhere from papal encyclicals and economic tomes by French socialists to technical academic debates and the demotic language of politicians and pundits. The health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have further elevated these concerns.
But which aspect of inequality should we be worried about? There are inequalities of opportunity and inequalities of outcome; there is overall inequality and there is inequality at the tails of the distribution. Should we be more worried about absolute or relative positions - mobility or stability? What is really more important, the distribution of the economic pie or the level and growth of living standards?
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