Inequality and institutions in 20th century america
By: Frank Levy, Peter Temin
Contributors: Temin, Peter; National Bureau of Economic Research
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 13106; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 13106.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Description: "We provide a comprehensive view of widening income inequality in the United States contrasting conditions since 1980 with those in earlier postwar years.  We argue that the income distribution in each period was strongly shaped by a set of economic institutions.  The early postwar years were dominated by unions, a negotiating framework set in the Treaty of Detroit, progressive taxes, and a high minimum wage -- all parts of a general government effort to broadly distribute the gains from growth.  More recent years have been characterized by reversals in all these dimensions in an institutional pattern known as the Washington Consensus.  Other explanations for income disparities including skill-biased technical change and international trade are seen as factors operating within this broader institutional story"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 7/16/2007.

Includes bibliographical references.

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