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'Inequality Is the Root of Social Evil,' or Maybe Not? Two Stories about Inequality and Public Policy

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  • Corak, Miles

    (CUNY Graduate Center)

Abstract

Income inequality is on the rise, and everyone, from President Obama and Pope Francis to Prince Charles and Standard & Poor's, is talking about it. But these conversations about what are arguably the most significant changes in the distribution of incomes and earnings since the 1940s are leading to very different views on how public policy should respond. This is as true in Canada as it is in almost all of the other rich countries where inequality has risen. In this paper I tell two stories about inequality – one from the perspective of those who feel it is not a problem worth the worry, and the other from the perspective of those who see it as "the defining challenge of our time" – in order to clarify the issues facing Canadians, and what public policy should do about them.

Suggested Citation

  • Corak, Miles, 2017. "'Inequality Is the Root of Social Evil,' or Maybe Not? Two Stories about Inequality and Public Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 11005, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11005
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    Cited by:

    1. Maximilian Stockhausen, 2021. "Like father, like son? A comparison of absolute and relative intergenerational labour income mobility in Germany and the US," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(4), pages 667-683, December.
    2. Ron Kneebone & Margarita Wilkins, 2019. "Measuring and Responding to Income Poverty," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 12(3), February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; poverty; middle class; top incomes; social mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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