Abstract
This article reviews research literature on inequality from economics, sociology and political science from a historiographic perspective. The literature covered here mainly focusses on the development of Western societies between 1970 and 2010 and is organised in terms of research concepts such as tax competition, educational attainment gaps, educational assortative mating, opportunity hoarding, happiness inequality, politics of resentment, welfare chauvinism and nature versus nurture.
Highlights
The literature covered here mainly focusses on the development of Western societies between 1970 and 2010 and is organised in terms of research concepts such as tax competition, educational attainment gaps, educational assortative mating, opportunity hoarding, happiness inequality, politics of resentment, welfare chauvinism and nature versus nurture
Despite methodological and cultural differences between history on the one hand and economics, sociology and political science on the other, maintaining a dialogue and paying more attention to each other’s research would enhance our knowledge of complex topics like social inequality
This article aims to provide an interdisciplinary review of research literature on social inequality
Summary
“Inequality is a bit like cinnamon—you definitely want to have a little of it to spice life up a bit, but too much of it can be very dangerous. In particular, found new policy targets, covered additional life risks—albeit at different rates of replacement—and claimed an increasing proportion of growing public finances.[4]. This period of state expansion is usually seen as a golden age, with little regard for its brevity or disparate developments.[5]. In his book “Capital and Ideology”, Piketty offers a less deterministic interpretation of post-1970s developments that is still a narrative of interrupted progress.[9] He identifies three causes for the retreat of social democracy in Western countries: the abandonment of public ownership in the economy, the failure to consistently tax wealth with progressive rates and the failure to provide egalitarian educational. The following section explores two concepts that have been put forward as reasons for the decreasing efficacy of government redistribution: first, tax competition and other factors that discouraged states from taxing high incomes; and second, unintended changes in behaviour, like opportunity hoarding in public education
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