Review by Choice Review
This slim volume thoroughly covers the topic of inequality in the US in a manner accessible to a wide audience. Lead author Dadush is affiliated with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; his three coauthors--Kemal Dervis, Sarah Puritz Milsom, and Bennett Stancil--are with the Brookings Institution or the Carnegie Endowment. They document the increase in inequality with the Gini coefficient, a widely used summary measure of inequality. For comparative purposes, the authors note the trend of rising inequality in 17 of the 22 OECD countries, and that of those 22 only Mexico and Turkey have higher inequality than the US. The book's initial chapters document the rise in inequality in the US; explain the reasons for this increasing inequality, which include new technology, international trade, immigration, demographic shifts, and financial considerations; and discuss the ramifications of inequality such as increased poverty and macroeconomic instability. There is an interesting discussion of positional goods and services, which are the relative, rather than absolute, characteristics of consumption. In the final chapters, the authors present policy proposals for reducing inequality, which focus on improved education, progressive taxation, and increased international cooperation. A timely book on an important topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections. E. P. Hoffman emerita, Western Michigan University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
