The new economics of inequality and redistribution
By: Samuel Bowles in collaboration with Christina Fong, Herbert Gintis, Arjun Jayadev, and Ugo Pagano
Series: Federico Caffè lectures
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 188
ISBN-13: 9781107601604
Subjects: Fairness; Income distribution; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / Microeconomics
Description: "Economists warn that policies to level the economic playing field come with a hefty price tag. But this so-called 'equality-efficiency trade-off' - has proven difficult to document. The data suggest, instead, that the extraordinary levels of economic inequality now experienced in many economies are detrimental to the economy. Moreover, recent economic experiments and other evidence confirm that most citizens are committed to fairness and are willing to sacrifice to help those less fortunate than themselves. Incorporating the latest results from behavioral economics and the new microeconomics of credit and labor markets, Bowles shows that escalating economic disparity is not the unavoidable price of progress. Rather it is policy choice - often a very costly one. Here drawing on his experience both as a policy advisor and an academic economist, Samuel Bowles offers an alternative direction, a novel and optimistic account of a more just and better working economy"--

"The New Economics of Inequality and Redistribution Economists warn that policies to level the economic playing field come with a hefty price tag. But this so-called "equality-efficiency trade-off" - has proven difficult to document. The data suggest, instead, that the extraordinary levels of economic inequality now experienced in many economies are detrimental to the economy. Moreover, recent economic experiments and other evidence confirm that most citizens are committed to fairness and are willing to sacrifice to help those less fortunate than themselves. Incorporating the latest results from behavioural economics, the new microeconomics of credit and labor markets, Bowles shows that escalating economic disparity is not the unavoidable price of progress. Rather it is policy choice - often a very costly one"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. The new economics of inequality and redistribution; 2. The economic cost of wealth inequality; 3. Feasible egalitarianism in a competitive world; 4. Cosmopolitans, parochials and the politics of social insurance; 5. Altruism, reciprocity, and the politics of egalitarian redistribution; 6. Conclusion; Appendices; Works cited; Index.