The New Economics of Inequality and Redistribution
Samuel Bowles - Cambridge University Press, 2012
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| Anteprima |
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, he offers an alternative direction, a novel and optimistic
account of a more just and better working economy.
