Fifteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Across the last several decades, economic inequality has risen steadily in many parts of the world. This is particularly puzzling given that inequality is not confined exclusively to autocratic contexts but has become particularly problematic for advanced democracies. This is the basis of the central questions addressed by this paper: what explains the variation in rates of growth in income inequality within advanced democracies in recent decades? From an ethical perspective, economic inequality should be a grave concern in its own right. When a handful of individuals earn more income than half of their country’s population, we should be deeply alarmed. When scores of people are living in poverty and don’t have access to food, clean water, education, and healthcare, while other individuals earn more money than they could spend in a great many lifetimes, we should be unnerved. Moral considerations aside, inequality should also be an utmost concern for scholars of political economy. For if a country’s wealth and resources become increasingly concentrated among a select group, there will be repercussions for how societal decisions are made and power is exercised. Consequently, determining what factors are the most important contributors to worsening inequality should be a primary objective for scholars of political economy.