Inequality Matters, The Growing Economic Divide in America and its Poisonous Consequences
James Lardner and David A Smith (eds), The New Press, 2006, 328 pages, £17.99.

This volume is a collection of twenty-one articles addressing specific topics and two scene-setting essays around the theme of growing inequality in America. The book is published in collaboration with Dēmos, a US think tank, and several of the authors (including the two editors) are research fellows at Dēmos.

The issue of inequality is discussed on many dimensions, not just those of income and wealth, in a style that is easy to read, combining facts with descriptions and anecdotes. The essays cover a wide range of topics. The first section sets out the extent of inequality, covering statistics on income and wealth inequality (for example, the top 1% own 33% of total wealth and wealth has become more concentrated); some connections between race, class, education, pay and health; and issues facing retirees and students. One brief article by the journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, author of a book entitled Nickel and Dimed about her experiences in what she terms ‘the land of low-wage work’, presents a perspective based on her short time working for Wal-Mart.

The second section of articles describes aspects of the dynamics of inequality. The topics covered range from low pay to changes in taxation, the role of corporations and various aspects of relative wealth (or poverty). The third, and final, section comprises six articles under the generic heading ‘Changing the Conversation’. These have a generally more philosophical tone and cover areas such a democracy, ‘building a moral economy’ and political issues.

While this is an important topic, it is difficult to judge whether a phrase such as “America is undergoing a profound transformation” from the introduction by Bill Moyers is widely accepted as an accurate description of recent US economic history. However, the growth in inequality in the US is a topic to which a number of economists, politicians and commentators are drawing attention. As examples, Paul Krugman in the US and Martin Wolf in the Financial Times have written on the subject and research at the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that income inequality in the US has widened again after a notable decline in the middle of the last century. Precisely what implications these trends may have for the US economy and the rest of the world are likely to be the subjects of much further work.

Barry Naisbitt
Abbey