Inequality
Thomas Piketty's New Book Brings Political Economy Back to Its Sources
In the same way that Capital in the Twenty-First Century transformed the way economists look at inequality, Piketty's new book Capital and Ideology will...
The Employment Effects of a Gender-Specific Minimum Wage
The first minimum-wage laws in the history of the United States were predominantly gender-specific in that they were imposing a lower bound only on...
The Future of Capitalism and the Utopia That Never Was
In his review of Paul Collier’s recent book The Future of Capitalism, Branko Milanovic discusses ideology, social democracy, and the "ethical world."
Paul Collier’s...
Global Declining Competition
Studies of the evolution of market power since 2000 have focused mostly on publicly traded US firms. This column introduces a new global study...
How Reforming Antitrust Can Restore a Competitive Economy
For decades, competition in America has been on the wane, leading to slower economic growth and a gaping chasm of inequality. Antitrust can help...
How Offshoring by Multinational Corporations Contributed to the Decline of US Manufacturing
The offshoring activities of multinational firms explain about one-third of the aggregate decline in US manufacturing employment, according to a new study.
Between 1990 and...
Angus Deaton: Today’s Inequalities Are Signs That Democratic Capitalism Is Under Threat
At the launch of the IFS Deaton Review, a 5-year review of rising inequalities in the UK, Sir Angus Deaton decried extreme inequality and the...
Basic Income as a Policy Lever: Can UBI Reduce Crime?
What would the effect of a universal basic income be on crime? A new study looks into Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend and suggests that...
The Real “China Shock”: Political Fallout from Slowing Exports in China
As China’s export growth has slowed down over the past five years, workers have responded by taking to the streets with increasing frequency. The...
Do the Sons of Rich Families Recover After a Large Wealth Shock? Evidence From the US Civil War
One striking feature of many underdeveloped societies is that economic power is concentrated in the hands of very small powerful elites. Why is it...
