Love, Marriage and Inequality

As female labor force participation increased since the 1970s, so too has the income inequality that resulted from assortative mating of higher earners.

Weekly Roundup: From Thirsty Almonds to Potent Alcohol

Our everyday economics includes human capital, incentives, behavioral economics, cost and benefit, exports, tradeoffs, inequality, risk,markets, and income.

What We Should Ask About the Wealth Gap

Because economists disagree on how to measure wealth, they convey different conclusions about the history of wealth inequality and distribution..

Why Academy Award Winners Might Live Longer

Relating income inequality to the stress felt by low status Bolivian Tsimane men and academy award losers, researchers said that stress that harms health.

A Bigger (Thanksgiving) Pie or Equal Slices?

Increasing income inequality by moving from communal farming to individual plots, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford changed income redistribution.

What Golf in China Shows About Economic Development

On a ladder of spending in developing economies, growing affluence first means wheat and meat. Then, climbing somewhat higher, people can afford consumer durables like a washing machine and a car. On a Chinese spending ladder, we could add golf. But it is a…

The Income Inequality That Doesn't Bother Us

When people talk about the top 1%, they are probably not thinking about NY Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter or Seattle’s MLS forward, Clint Dempsey. For 2014, Jeter signed a $12 million contract and Dempsey makes close to $5 million. However, they all take us to income inequality. Using…

How to Defend or Oppose Thomas Piketty

Summarizing Thomas Piketty’s voluminous research in his new book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” the NY Times said that looking back, we have overstated the beneficence of capitalism and looking forward, gross income inequality is our destiny unless policies radically change.…

Income Inequality Questions

Seeing economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty’s favorite graph of the year at Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog, I thought of Benoit Mandelbrot. The father of fractal geometry, Dr. Mandelbrot told us that the closer you look, the more you see. From a…