There are two flaws to this popular view. First, growth no longer has the magical quality of benefiting everyone in recent years, growth has actually been associated with the immiseration of a whole group of workers. And second, the idea that the distribution of income is irrelevant is not supported by the scholarly evidence. Health, well-being and satisfaction appear to be heavily influenced by the ways in which economic resources, prestige and social position are distributed. The reasons may not turn out to be so very complicated.
Humans are social.
We judge our own situations very much in comparison to others around us. It is not surprising that people experience less stress, more peace of mind and feel happier in an environment with more social cohesion and more equality. Perhaps it s time to make that conclusion a fundamental basis of our economic and social policy. Shifting Fortunes is not just a discussion about what is happening to the rich and what is happening to the poor. As you are about to see, they are big losers over the last 25 years.