One of my favorit bloggers from Cafe Hayek is having a “back-and-forth on inequality” at the Wall Street Journal Econoblog. Is the “growing” inqueality really a problem or threat to our society. I’m not convinced, and I think its usually misused as an umbrella for other societal problems (ie inequality of opportunity, which is different). See also “Is there really an income gap?“.
Is inequality a serious social problem? Everyone seems
to think so. Heather, you conjure up the same frightening image that is
constantly referenced in media accounts of government data — an elite
slice at the top getting all the gains while the rest of us get crumbs.
The middle class is being hollowed out; we’re becoming a nation of
haves and have-nots.But the data you cite (and the data cited relentlessly
by those who would use inequality as an engine for social change) mask
what is really going on.