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Increasing Inequality and Financial Instability

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  • Peter Skott

    (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA)

Abstract

Rising inequality affects the composition of asset demands as well as aggregate demand. The poor have few financial assets and their portfolios are skewed towards fixed-income assets. The rich, by contrast, hold a large proportion of their wealth in stocks. Thus, an increase in inequality tends to raise the demand for stocks. This generates capital gains, and these gains can fuel a bubble, as desired portfolios shift further towards stocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Skott, 2013. "Increasing Inequality and Financial Instability," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 478-488, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:45:y:2013:i:4:p:478-488
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    8. Nicholas Kaldor, 1966. "Marginal Productivity and the Macro-Economic Theories of Distribution: Comment on Samuelson and Modigliani," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 33(4), pages 309-319.
    9. Skott,Peter, 2008. "Conflict and Effective Demand in Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521066310, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Setterfield, Mark & Kim, Yun K., 2016. "Debt servicing, aggregate consumption, and growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 22-33.
    2. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim & Jeremy Rees, 2016. "Inequality, Debt Servicing and the Sustainability of Steady State Growth," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 45-63, January.
    3. Greg Philip Hannsgen, 2021. "A Minimal Probabilistic Minsky Model: 3D Continuous-Jump Dynamics," Working Papers PKWP2026, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    4. Dögüs, Ilhan, 2021. "Financialisation and market concentration in the USA: A monetary circuit theory," ZÖSS-Discussion Papers 87, University of Hamburg, Centre for Economic and Sociological Studies (CESS/ZÖSS).
    5. Merrino, Serena, 2022. "Monetary policy and wage inequality in South Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    6. Soon Ryoo & Peter Skott, 2013. "Public debt and full employment in a stock-flow consistent model of a corporate economy," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 511-528.
    7. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim, 2016. "Household Borrowing and the Possibility of ``Consumption-Driven, Profit-Led Growth’’," Working Papers 2016_01, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    8. Soon Ryoo, 2016. "Household debt and housing bubbles: a Minskian approach to boom-bust cycles," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 971-1006, December.
    9. Michel Alexandre & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2020. "Combining monetary policy and prudential regulation: an agent-based modeling approach," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 15(2), pages 385-411, April.
    10. Giraud, Gaël & Grasselli, Matheus, 2021. "Household debt: The missing link between inequality and secular stagnation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 901-927.
    11. Ayako Saiki & Jon Frost, 2014. "How does unconventional monetary policy affect inequality? Evidence from Japan," DNB Working Papers 423, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    12. Gaël Giraud & Matheus GRASSELLI, 2017. "The macrodynamics of household debt, growth, and inequality," Working Paper c15af656-d7a4-485c-867f-5, Agence française de développement.
    13. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim, 2017. "Household borrowing and the possibility of 'consumption-driven, profit-led growth'," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 43-60, January.
    14. Ayako Saiki & Jon Frost, 2014. "Does unconventional monetary policy affect inequality? Evidence from Japan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(36), pages 4445-4454, December.
    15. Rachel Ong ViforJ & Hiroaki Suenaga & Ryan Brierty, 2024. "Homeownership and subjective well-being: Are the links heterogeneous across location, age and income?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(5), pages 859-877, April.
    16. Serena Merrino, 2020. "Wage inequality under inflation-targeting in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-86, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Peter Skott, 2011. "Heterodox macro after the crisis," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2011-23, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    18. Amrita Chhachhi & Codrina Rada, 2014. "‘Another Such Victory and We are Undone’: Addressing Fallacies of Reasoning in Contemporary Policy Making," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(5), pages 1172-1192, September.
    19. Filippo Gusella & Anna Maria Variato, 2021. "Financial Instability and Income Inequality: why the connection Minsky-Piketty matters for Macroeconomics," Working Papers - Economics wp2021_15.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    20. Greg Philip Hannsgen, 2021. "A Minimal Probabilistic Minsky Model: 3D Continuous-Jump Dynamics," Working Papers PKWP2102, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    earnings inequality; portfolio composition; financial instability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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