Richard Wilkinson - Rethinking the State - Series 3
Channel: Rethinking the State
Date: 2013-09-24

Richard Wilkinson (The Equality Trust), co-author (with Kate Pickett) of The Spirit Level, explains that income differences between the rich and the poor are strongly correlated to all sorts of social malaises, with more unequal countries presenting higher levels of social problems. The issue is not one of absolute poverty, but of relative inequality, and State policies (e.g. pre- and post-taxation income distribution schemes) should address the latter as much as the former, something that will require more democratic and accountable policy-making processes.

Rethinking the State is a video project coordinated by Prof. Mariana Mazzucato (SPRU/University of Sussex) that links two research grants (Ford Foundation's Entrepreneurial State and INET's Financing Innovation). Every week we release a new video with leading international economists voicing their views on topics such as the role of the State in the economy and in the innovation process, the global financial system, the current economic crisis, the side-effects of austerity measures, and alternative growth and innovation policies.

More info: http://marianamazzucato.com/projects/rethinking_the_state/