Until protestors took to the streets last year, first in New York and then in financial centres across the world, inequality had been a low-key issue. Not any more. With the political temperature rising, a stream of new analysis is revealing how sharply inequality has been growing. In October, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) … Continue reading
Tax and benefit systems play a major role in reducing market-driven inequality, but have become less effective at redistributing income since the mid-1990s. The main reason lies on the benefits side: benefits levels fell in nearly all OECD countries, eligibility rules were tightened to contain spending on social protection, and transfers to the poorest failed … Continue reading