Download or read book The Age of Equality written by Richard Pomfret and published by Belknap Press. This book was released on 2011-10-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1900 the global average life expectancy at birth was thirty-one years. By 2000 it was sixty-six. Yet, alongside unprecedented improvements in longevity and material well-being, the twentieth century also saw the rise of fascism and communism and a second world war followed by a cold war. This book tells the story of the battles between economic systems that defined the last century and created today's world. The nineteenth century was a period of rapid economic growth characterized by relatively open markets and more personal liberty, but it also brought great inequality within and between nations. The following century offered sharp challenges to free-wheeling capitalism from both communism and fascism, whose competing visions of planned economic development attracted millions of people buffeted by the economic storms of the 1930s. The Age of Equality describes the ways in which market-oriented economies eventually overcame the threat of these visions and provided a blueprint for reform in nonmarket economies. This was achieved not through unbridled capitalism but by combining the efficiency and growth potential of markets with government policies to promote greater equality of opportunity and outcome. Following on the heels of economic reform, rapid catch-up growth in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Poland helped to reduce global inequality. At a time when inequality is on the rise in nations as disparate as the United States and Egypt, Pomfret’s interpretation of how governments of market economies faced the challenges of the twentieth century is both instructive and cautionary.

Download or read book The Economic Case for LGBT Equality written by M. V. Lee Badgett and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An economist demonstrates how LGBT equality and inclusion within organizations increases their bottom line and allows for countries’ economies to flourish We know that homophobia harms LGBT individuals in many ways, but economist M. V. Lee Badgett argues that in addition to moral and human rights reasons for equality, we can now also make a financial argument. Finding that homophobia and transphobia cost 1% or more of a country’s GDP, Badgett expertly uses recent research and statistics to analyze how these hostile practices and environments affect both the US and global economies. LGBT equality remains a persistent and pertinent issue. The continued passing of discriminatory laws, people being fired from jobs for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, harassment and bullying in school, violence and hate crimes on the streets, exclusion from intolerant families, and health effects of stigma all make it incredibly difficult to live a good life. Examining the consequences of anti-LGBT practices across multiple countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, India and the Philippines, Badgett reveals the expensive repercussions of hate and discrimination, and how our economy loses when we miss out on the full benefit of LGBT people’s potential contributions.

Download or read book Equality and Efficiency REV written by Arthur M. Okun and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1975, Equality and Efficiency: The Big Tradeoff is a very personal work from one of the most important macroeconomists of the last hundred years. And this new edition includes "Further Thoughts on Equality and Efficiency," a paper published by the author two years later. In classrooms Arthur M. Okun may be best remembered for Okun's Law, but his lasting legacy is the respect and admiration he earned from economists, practitioners, and policymakers. Equality and Efficiency is the perfect embodiment of that legacy, valued both by professional economists and those readers with a keen interest in social policy. To his fellow economists, Okun presents messages, in the form of additional comments and select citations, in his footnotes. To all readers, Okun presents an engaging dual theme: the market needs a place, and the market needs to be kept in its place. As Okun puts it: Institutions in a capitalist democracy prod us to get ahead of our neighbors economically after telling us to stay in line socially. This double standard professes and pursues an egalitarian political and social system while simultaneously generating gaping disparities in economic well-being. Today, Okun's dual theme feels incredibly prescient as we grapple with the hot-button topic of income inequality. In his foreword, Lawrence H. Summers declares: On what one might think of as questions of "economic philosophy," I doubt that Okun has been improved on in the subsequent interval. His discussion of how societies rely on rights as well as markets should be required reading for all young economists who are enamored with market solutions to all problems. With a new foreword by Lawrence H. Summers

Download or read book Equality the Third World and Economic Delusion written by Péter Tamás Bauer and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even in impoverished countries lacking material and human resources, P. T. Bauer argues, economic growth is possible under the right conditions. These include a certain amount of thrift and enterprise among the people, social mores and traditions which sustain them, and a firm but limited government which permits market forces to work. Challenging many views about development that are widely held, Bauer takes on squarely the notion that egalitarianism is an appropriate goal. He goes on to argue that the population explosion of less-developed countries has on the whole been a voluntary phenomenon and that each new generation has lived better than its forebears. He also critically examines the notion that the policies and practices of Western nations have been responsible for third world poverty. In a major chapter, he reviews the rationalizations for foreign aid and finds them weak; while in another he shows that powerful political clienteles have developed in the Western nations supporting the foreign aid process and probably benefiting more from it than the alleged recipients. Another chapter explores the link between the issue of Special Drawing Rights by the International Monetary Fund on the one hand and the aid process on the other. Throughout the book, Bauer carefully examines the evidence and the light it throws on the propositions of development. Although the results of his analysis contradict the conventional wisdom of development economics, anyone who is seriously concerned with the subject must take them into account.

Download or read book The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America 1600 1870 written by Daniel R. Mandell and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Informing current discussions about the growing gap between rich and poor in the United States, The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America is surprising and enlightening.

Download or read book Meritocracy and Economic Inequality written by Kenneth Arrow and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans strongly favor equality of opportunity if not outcome, but many are weary of poverty's seeming immunity to public policy. This helps to explain the recent attention paid to cultural and genetic explanations of persistent poverty, including claims that economic inequality is a function of intellectual ability, as well as more subtle depictions of the United States as a meritocracy where barriers to achievement are personal--either voluntary or inherited--rather than systemic. This volume of original essays by luminaries in the economic, social, and biological sciences, however, confirms mounting evidence that the connection between intelligence and inequality is surprisingly weak and demonstrates that targeted educational and economic reforms can reduce the income gap and improve the country's aggregate productivity and economic well-being. It also offers a novel agenda of equal access to valuable associations. Amartya Sen, John Roemer, Robert M. Hauser, Glenn Loury, Orley Ashenfelter, and others sift and analyze the latest arguments and quantitative findings on equality in order to explain how merit is and should be defined, how economic rewards are distributed, and how patterns of economic success persist across generations. Moving well beyond exploration, they draw specific conclusions that are bold yet empirically grounded, finding that schooling improves occupational success in ways unrelated to cognitive ability, that IQ is not a strong independent predictor of economic success, and that people's associations--their neighborhoods, working groups, and other social ties--significantly explain many of the poverty traps we observe. The optimistic message of this beautifully edited book is that important violations of equality of opportunity do exist but can be attenuated by policies that will serve the general economy. Policy makers will read with interest concrete suggestions for crafting economically beneficial anti-discrimination measures, enhancing educational and associational opportunity, and centering economic reforms in community-based institutions. Here is an example of some of our most brilliant social thinkers using the most advanced techniques that their disciplines have to offer to tackle an issue of great social importance.

Download or read book Gender Class Equality in Political Economies written by Lynn Prince Cooke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-03-17 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an in-depth analysis of gender-class equality across six countries to reveal why gender-class equality in paid and unpaid work remains elusive, and what more policy might do to achieve better social and economic outcomes.

Download or read book Women s Quest for Economic Equality written by Victor R. Fuchs and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores reasons for women's continued economic disadvantage and the conflicts women feel between career and family, which men do not. Offers proposals that would help society overcome these discrepancies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book Blacks and the Quest for Economic Equality written by James W. Button and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2015-08-26 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The civil rights movement of the 1960s improved the political and legal status of African Americans, but the quest for equality in employment and economic well-being has lagged behind. Blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to be employed in lower-paying service jobs or to be unemployed, are three times as likely to live in poverty, and have a median household income barely half of that for white households. What accounts for these disparities, and what possibilities are there for overcoming obstacles to black economic progress? This book seeks answers to these questions through a combined quantitative and qualitative study of six municipalities in Florida. Factors impeding the quest for equality include employer discrimination, inadequate education, increasing competition for jobs from white females and Latinos, and a lack of transportation, job training, affordable childcare, and other sources of support, which makes it difficult for blacks to compete effectively. Among factors aiding in the quest is the impact of black political power in enhancing opportunities for African Americans in municipal employment. The authors conclude by proposing a variety of ameliorative measures: strict enforcement of antidiscrimination laws; public policies to provide disadvantaged people with a good education, adequate shelter and food, and decent jobs; and self-help efforts by blacks to counter self-destructive attitudes and activities.

Download or read book Innovation Equality written by Joshua Gans and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to get more innovation and more equality. Is economic inequality the price we pay for innovation? The amazing technological advances of the last two decades—in such areas as artificial intelligence, genetics, and materials—have benefited society collectively and rewarded innovators handsomely: we get cool smartphones and technology moguls become billionaires. This contributes to a growing wealth gap; in the United States; the wealth controlled by the top 0.1 percent of households equals that of the bottom ninety percent. Is this the inevitable cost of an innovation-driven economy? Economist Joshua Gans and policy maker Andrew Leigh make the case that pursuing innovation does not mean giving up on equality—precisely the opposite. In this book, they outline ways that society can become both more entrepreneurial and more egalitarian. All innovation entails uncertainty; there's no way to predict which new technologies will catch on. Therefore, Gans and Leigh argue, rather than betting on the future of particular professions, we should consider policies that embrace uncertainty and protect people from unfavorable outcomes. To this end, they suggest policies that promote both innovation and equality. If we encourage innovation in the right way, our future can look more like the cheerful techno-utopia of Star Trek than the dark techno-dystopia of The Terminator.

Download or read book Equality Of Opportunity The Economics Of Responsibility written by Francois Maniquet and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2012-03-14 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword by Eric Maskin (Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2007)This book is a collection of articles written by the two authors on the topic of equality of opportunity. All articles build on the idea that a just society should equalize the resources that determine the opportunities agents face in order to follow their goals. Resources are either external, like financial resources, or internal, like preferences or skills. The authors propose to define “equality of opportunity” as the combination of ethical principles of compensation and responsibility. The principle of compensation requires external resources to be used to compensate low-skilled agents (considering that inequalities due to skill differences are unjust). The principle of responsibility requires external resources to be allocated without regards to inequalities due to differences in preferences (considering that these inequalities are not unjust). The articles present different ways of combining the two principles in different economic contexts.The book offers many possible aspects of the analysis of equality of opportunity, ranging from axiomatic discussions in abstract compensation models, to the design of redistribution policies in concrete labor income taxation models.

Download or read book The Equality Effect written by Dorling Danny and published by New Internationalist. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Equality Effect is almost magical. In more equal countries, human beings are generally happier and healthier, there is less crime, more creativity and higher educational attainment. Danny Dorling delivers all evidence that is now so overwhelming that it should be changing politics and society all over the world. For the past four decades, many countries, including the US and the UK, have chosen the path to greater inequality on the assumption that there is no alternative. Yet even under globalization, other nations continue to take a different road. The time will come when The Equality Effect will be as readily accepted as women voting or former colonies gaining independence—and it will come very soon. From one of the world's top social scientists comes a compelling argument for public policy to prioritize equality, fully-evidenced with statistics and sprinkled with black and white illustrations. Most importantly, he demonstrates where greater equality is currently to be found, and how we can set The Equality Effect in motion everywhere. Danny Dorling is a social geographer and the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education and poverty. He has written extensively about the widening gap between rich and poor and his work regularly appears in the media.He is author The No-Nonsense Guide to Equality; The Atlas of the Real World; Unequal Health; Inequality and the 1%, and Injustice: Why social inequalities persist. His views are often sought by policy makers.

Download or read book Liberty and Equality in Political Economy written by Nicholas Capaldi and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2016-05-27 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberty and Equality in Political Economy is an evolutionary account of the ongoing debate between two narratives: Locke and liberty versus Rousseau and equality. Within this book, Nicholas Capaldi and Gordon Lloyd view these authors and their texts as parts of a conversation, therefore highlighting a new perspective on the texts themselves.

Download or read book Gender Equality and Public Policy written by Paola Profeta and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-16 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of how public policy is shaping gender equality in Europe.

Download or read book Gender Equality at Work Is the Last Mile the Longest Economic Gains from Gender Equality in Nordic Countries written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2018-05-14 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have led the way for modern family and gender policy. This report shows that improvements in gender equality have contributed considerably to their economic growth.

Download or read book Human Rights and Economic Inequalities written by Gillian MacNaughton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-02 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interdisciplinary volume examines the potential of human rights to challenge economic inequalities and their adverse impacts on human wellbeing.

Download or read book China s Retreat from Equality written by Carl Riskin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of 13 essays based on two national surveys of household income in China - in 1985 and 1995 - and prepared and carried out by the research team. These essays explore a wide range of aspects of the rapidly changing income distribution during this period.