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the cost of income inequality

Economic libertarians argue that this growing inequality is unimportant: aren’t the poor of 2008 still far better off in terms of real income, health, life expectancy, and material comfort than even the richest citizen in 1900?

The fallacy of this argument is that human beings do not measure their well-being by absolute real income or longevity — but rather in relative terms. To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, a wealthy man is one who earns more than his wife’s brother-in-law.

Further, a growing body of research reveals that the social and medical costs of inequality are high. Here is the tiniest of samplings:

• Among both American states and Canadian provinces, homicide rates closely track income inequality, even after the absolute level of income itself was carefully controlled for. That homicide is not driven by poverty alone is demonstrated by Canada, where, because of aggressive redistributive policies, the poorest provinces have the lowest inequalities and also the lowest number of violent deaths.

• It is becoming increasingly obvious among obesity researchers that the primary underlying factors in this epidemic are social class and income inequality.

William Bernstein, Neurologist & Author

This task tested your ability to judge people’s emotions.

Your score: 8 out of 10
Average score: 6.6 out of 10

What does your result suggest?

Your result suggests you are a good empathiser, sensitive to other people’s emotions. Women generally fall into this category.

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An interesting, and debatably flawed, test on the BBC website titled “Sex ID, Find out how your Mind Works”.