Inequality Everywhere

Some nations are richer than others. Rich, poor, or in-between, however, there is inequality everywhere. Harvard’s Kenneth Rogoff observes:

The causes of growing inequality within countries are well understood, and it is not necessary to belabor them here. We live in an era in which globalization expands the market for ultra-talented individuals but competes away the income of ordinary employees. Competition among countries for skilled individuals and profitable industries, in turn, constrains governments’ abilities to maintain high tax rates on the wealthy. Social mobility is further impeded as the rich shower their children with private education and after-school help, while the poorest in many countries cannot afford even to let their children stay in school.

And this rising inequality strikes at the egalitarian impulse that is one of the deepest drivers in human nature. It feeds a sense of injustice that erodes the fabric of society. Rogoff concludes that “Inequality is the big wildcard in the next decade of global growth, and not just in North Africa.”