Afternon Must-Read: Martin Wolf: Why Inequality Is Such a Drag on Economies
Martin Wolf: Why Inequality Is Such a Drag on Economies: “A report written by the chief US economist of Standard & Poor’s…
…and another from Morgan Stanley, agree that inequality is not only rising but having damaging effects on the US economy… two economic consequences… weak demand and lagging progress in raising educational levels…. The costs to society of rising inequality go further–the greatest costs are the erosion of the republican ideal of shared citizenship…. As the US Supreme Court seeks to bend the constitution to the will of plutocrats, the peril is to the politically egalitarian premises of the republic. Enormous divergences in wealth and power have hollowed out republics before now. They could well do so in our age.
Yet even for those who do not share such concerns, the economic costs should matter…