IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v29y2003is1p185-202.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Has Widening Inequality Promoted or Retarded US Growth?

Author

Listed:
  • Gary Burtless

Abstract

The United States has recently enjoyed faster economic growth than any other large industrialized country. The US also has the highest level of inequality among the G7 countries and has seen inequality increase faster than most other industrialized nations. The combination of rapid American economic growth and high and rising US inequality raises a question: Has rising inequality contributed to rapid US economic growth? This paper reviews modern theories linking inequality and economic growth and concludes that a relatively old theory suggested by Arthur Okun probably accounts for the recent combination of US growth and inequality. The country imposes fewer restrictions on economic agents and provides less help to people in distress. It makes fewer sacrifices in efficiency to achieve economic equality. Okun's theory has little difficulty explaining why these distinctive policies are associated with faster employment growth and higher average hours of work than are observed in other wealthy countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Burtless, 2003. "Has Widening Inequality Promoted or Retarded US Growth?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(s1), pages 185-202, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:29:y:2003:i:s1:p:185-202
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28200301%2929%3CS185%3AHWIPOR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce D. Meyer & Dan T. Rosenbaum, 2001. "Welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Labor Supply of Single Mothers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 1063-1114.
    2. Maria J. Hanratty & Rebecca M. Blank, 1992. "Down and Out in North America: Recent Trends in Poverty Rates in the United States and Canada," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 233-254.
    3. Meyer, Bruce D. & Rosenbaum, Dan T., 2000. "Making Single Mothers Work: Recent Tax and Welfare Policy and Its Effects," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(4), pages 1027-1062, December.
    4. Lerman, Robert I & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1985. "Income Inequality Effects by Income," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 151-156, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. El-Osta, Hisham S. & Morehart, Mitchell J., 2009. "Welfare Decomposition in the Context of the Life Cycle of Farm Operators: What Does a National Survey Reveal?," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Florence Jaumotte & Carolina Osorio Buitron, 2020. "Inequality: traditional drivers and the role of union power," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 25-58.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hélène Périvier, 2007. "Les femmes sur le marché du travail aux Etats-Unis: une mise en perspective avec la France et la Suède," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00972845, HAL.
    2. repec:cep:sticas:/126 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "Les femmes sur le marché du travail aux Etats-Unis," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00973039, HAL.
    4. Jane Waldfogel, 2007. "Welfare Reforms and Child Well-Being in the US and UK," CASE Papers case126, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    5. V. Joseph Hotz & John Karl Scholz, 2006. "Examining the Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on the Labor Market Participation of Families on Welfare," NBER Working Papers 11968, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/1203 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. David T. Ellwood, 1999. "The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Social Policy Reforms on Work, Marriage, and Living Arrangements," JCPR Working Papers 124, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    8. Raj Chetty & Adam Guren & Day Manoli & Andrea Weber, 2013. "Does Indivisible Labor Explain the Difference between Micro and Macro Elasticities? A Meta-Analysis of Extensive Margin Elasticities," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 1-56.
    9. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach & Michael R. Strain, 2021. "Employment Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit: Taking the Long View," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 87-129.
    10. Hélène Périvier, 2008. "Les femmes sur le marché du travail aux Etats-Unis," Sciences Po publications 2008-12, Sciences Po.
    11. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/6142 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hélène Périvier, 2009. "Les femmes sur le marché du travail aux États-Unis," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-02081114, HAL.
    13. Stephan, Gesine & van den Berg, Gerard & Homrighausen, Pia, 2016. "Randomizing information on a targeted wage support program for older workers: A field experiment," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145487, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Dahl, Molly & DeLeire, Thomas & Schwabish, Jonathan, 2009. "Stepping Stone or Dead End? The Effect of the EITC on Earnings Growth," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(2), pages 329-346, June.
    15. Richard Blundell & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2004. "Has 'In-Work' Benefit Reform Helped the Labor Market?," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 411-460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Cancian, Maria & Levinson, Arik, 2006. "Labor Supply Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit: Evidence From Wisconsin's Supplemental Benefit for Families With Three Children," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 59(4), pages 781-800, December.
    17. Hilary Hoynes, 2007. "The EITC Disincentive: A Reply to Paul Trampe," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(3), pages 321-325, September.
    18. Gundersen, Craig, 2005. "Are The Effects Of The Macroeconomy And Social Policies On Poverty Different In Rural America?," Working Papers 18909, Oregon State University, Rural Poverty Research Center (RPRC).
    19. Joyce Ted & Kaestner Robert & Korenman Sanders, 2003. "Welfare Reform and Non-Marital Fertility in the 1990s: Evidence from Birth Records," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-36, December.
    20. Hélène Périvier, 2007. "Les femmes sur le marché du travail aux États-Unis: Une mise en perspective avec la France et la Suède," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/1203, Sciences Po.
    21. Frish, Roni & Zussman, Noam, 2008. "The effect of transfer payments on the labor supply of single mothers," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 627-643, April.
    22. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett & Myers, Karen & Myles, John, 2008. "The Demographic Foundations of Rising Employment and Earnings Among Single Mothers in Canada and the United States, 1980 to 2000," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2008305e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    23. Bruce D. Meyer, 2010. "The Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Recent Reforms," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24, pages 153-180, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:29:y:2003:i:s1:p:185-202. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.