Topic Economic Inequality

Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and wealth and it has been rising in the United States in recent decades. Questions about whether and how this rise in inequality affects economic growth and stability are fundamental to Equitable Growth’s work, which explores how economic inequality impacts individuals and families across a wide range of issues, and what policies might address these challenges.

Featured work

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U.S. income and wealth inequality are no longer increasing, but a return to the equitable levels of the mid-20th century isn’t likely anytime soon

Inequality & Mobility
report

A review of federal lending to small business owners of color during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tax & MacroeconomicsInequality & Mobility
Equitable Economy

Why the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is good economics

Inequality & MobilityTax & Macroeconomics
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Six charts that explain how inequality in the United States changed over the past 20 years

Inequality & Mobility
TOPICS: 1
TOPICS: GDP 2.0
In Conversation

In Conversation with Mehrsa Baradaran

Inequality & MobilityTax & Macroeconomics
Vision 2020

The logistics of a reparations program in the United States

Tax & MacroeconomicsInequality & MobilityFamilies

Explore Content in Economic Inequality717

Coronavirus Recession

Why minimum wages are a critical tool for achieving racial justice in the U.S. labor market

Inequality & MobilityLabor
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Lisa Cook, Hilary Hoynes, and Atif Mian join Equitable Growth Steering Committee

Inequality & Mobility
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Equitable Growth’s labor market experts deliver comment letter to U.S. Department of Labor on status of independent contractors

CompetitionLaborInequality & Mobility
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Equitable Growth’s Amanda Fischer joins others in comment letter to antitrust regulator on harmful U.S. banking consolidation

CompetitionInequality & Mobility
report

Public investments in education can spur equitable growth, pay for themselves, and create jobs for a stronger economic recovery

FamiliesInequality & MobilityTax & Macroeconomics
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Equitable Growth’s Household Pulse graphs: September 30–October 12

Inequality & Mobility
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The rising number of U.S. households with burdensome student debt calls for a federal response

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
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Voting rights equal economic progress: The Voting Rights Act and U.S. economic inequality

Inequality & MobilityLabor
working paper

The Effect of Political Power on Labor Market Inequality: Evidence from the 1965 Voting Rights Act

Inequality & MobilityLabor
Expert Focus

Expert Focus: The consequences of economic inequality among Latinx groups in the United States

Tax & MacroeconomicsInequality & MobilityLabor
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Can policymakers reverse the unequal decline in middle-age U.S. homeownership rates?

Tax & MacroeconomicsInequality & MobilityFamilies
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Equitable Growth’s Household Pulse graphs: September 16–28 Edition

Inequality & Mobility
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