Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Physics and Ethics of Inequality
1. The Simple Physics of Inequality Measurement
2. The Ethical Implications of Inequality Measures
3. Plan of the Book
References
Chapter 2. The Need for New Inequality Measures
1. The Data Problem in Inequality Studies
2. Obtaining Dense and Consistent Inequality Measures
3. Grouping Up and Grouping Down
4. Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Pay Inequality and World Development
1. What Kuznets Meant
2. New Data for a New Look at Kuznets' Hypothesis
3. Pay Inequality and National Income: What's the Shape of the Curve?
4. Global Rising Inequality: the Soros Super-bubble as a Pattern in the Data
5. Conclusion
References
Appendix: On a Presumed Link from Inequality to Growth
Chapter 4. Estimating the Inequality of Household Incomes
1. Estimating the Relationship Between Inequalities of Pay and Income
2. Finding the Problem Cases: A Study of Residuals
3. Building a Deep and Balanced Income Inequality Data Set
4. Conclusion
References
Chapter 5. Economic Inequality and Political Regimes
1. Democracy and Inequality in Political Science
2. A Different Approach to Political Regime Types
3. Analysis and Results
4. Conclusion
References
Appendix I: Political Regime Data Description
Appendix II: Results Using Other Political Classification Schemes
Chapter 6. The Geography of Inequality in America, 1969 to 2007
1. Between-Industry Earnings Inequality in the United States
2. The Changing Geography of American Income Inequality
3. Interpreting Inequality in the United States
4. Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: State-Level Income Inequality and American Elections
1. Some Initial Models Using Off-the-Shelf Data for the 2000 Election.
2. New Estimates of State-Level Inequality and an Analysis of the Inequality-Elections Relationship over Time
3. Inequality and the Income Paradox in Voting
4. Conclusion
References
Chapter 8. Inequality and Unemployment in Europe: A Question of Levels
1. An Inequality-based Theory of Unemployment
2. Region-based Evidence on Inequality and Unemployment
3. Inequality and Unemployment in Europe and America
4. Implications for Unemployment Policy in Europe
References
Appendix. Detailed Results and Sensitivity Analyses
Chapter 9. European Wages and the Flexibility Thesis
1. The Problem of Unemployment in Europe: A reprise
2. Assessing Wage Flexibility Across Europe
3. Clustering and Discriminating to Simplify the Picture
4. Conclusion
References
Appendix A: Cluster Details
Appendix B: Eigenvalues and Canonical Correlations
Appendix C: Correlations between Canonical Scores and Pseudoscores
Chapter 10: Globalization and Inequality in China
1. The Evolution of Inequality in China through 2007
2. Finance and the export boom, 2002 to 2006
3. Trade and capital inflow in post-WTO China
4. Profit and Capital Flows into Speculative Sectors
5. Conclusion
References
Chapter 11. Finance and Power in Argentina and Brazil
1. The Modern Political Economy of Argentina and Brazil
2. Measuring Inequality in Argentina and Brazil
3. Sources of Data
4. Pay Inequality in Argentina 1994-2007
5. Pay Inequality in Brazil 1996-2007
6. Conclusion
References
Chapter 12. Inequality in Cuba After the Soviet Collapse
1. Data on Pay in Cuba
2. Evolution of the Cuban Economy 1991 - 2005
3. Cuban Pay Inequality by Sector
4. Cuban Pay Inequality by Region
5. Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: Economic Inequality and the World Crisis
Bibliography

About the Author

James K. Galbraith is professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations. He is a leading economist whose books include The Predator State, Inequality and Industrial Change, and Created Unequal.

Reviews

"[P]otentially groundbreaking new methodology . . . Galbraith discredits a number of shibboleths of the economics profession. . . . In this rich study, the author brings both transparency and a fresh approach to a profession where a shake-up seems more than overdue. Economics specialists will enjoy this book, but so too will general readers disenchanted with current economic orthodoxies." --Kirkus Reviews
"In Inequality and Instability, James K. Galbraith brings to bear his considerable experience in government and academia to examine one of the most pressing issues of our time. In this accessible and far-reaching volume, he investigates not only the depth and breadth of inequality in Europe, America, and elsewhere, but also its implications for politics and society. It's no surprise that Galbraith, who is well known for having pioneered new
understandings of economic inequality, leaves no stone unturned in his discussion of metrics and methodologies...It is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand our political and economic era."--Joseph E. Stiglitz,
author of Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics
"Inequality is at the heart of our modern economic predicament,but its kaleidoscopic nature makes it as hard to summarize as it is to understand. In this important book, Jamie Galbraith and colleagues develop a powerful new measure of global inequality trends and show how it can be used to shed new light on everything from economic growth to voter turnout. The result is a truly pathbreaking work of scholarship."--Barry Eichengreen, author of Exorbitant
Privilege
"While most economists 'slept' and some were busying themselves making sure there is no level playing field, Jamie Galbraith was one of the few who kept on insisting on the dangers of runaway inequality, financial-sector driven growth and crony capitalism. In this book, he takes the reader on a journey through the years that preceded the financial meltdown, skillfully links inequality and macroeconomics, and, after showing the why and the how of the crisis,
points the way out of it." --Branko Milanovic, author of Worlds Apart: Measuring International and Global Inequality
"Based on a mountain of new data, this book undermines much of what scholars thought they knew about economic inequality. James Galbraith's readable and compelling dissections of how financial bubbles and macroeconomic forces shape inequality and its effects on society and the state are seminal. Inequality and Instability is a work not just for scholars, but for citizens." --Thomas Ferguson, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Boston
"The most comprehensive examination to date of the connection between the financial sector, the Achilles heel of 'free enterprise' economies, and income inequality across countries. Galbraith and his fellow researchers at the University of Texas Inequality Project demonstrate how the seeds of the current economic crisis were sown by the refusal to confront and reverse an unequalizing worldwide spiral of income disparity. This could be the empirical Bible for
the Occupy movement."--William Darity, Arts and Sciences Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and African American Studies, Duke University
"Galbraith's timely and provocative book adds some economic and statistical ballast to the vague rhetorical slogans of the Occupy protesters. Drawing on meticulous academic research, it argues that the main source of the growing inequality across the world in recent years has been not industrial change, educational reform, or geopolitical shift but the financialization of the modern world." --Foreign Affairs
"Galbraith's book presents an extremely varied and nutritious fare for all of those who want to find out more about the things that they 'were afraid to ask' during the last twenty years: why did inequality increase so much and who benefited from it? But Galbraith did notice the increase, wrote about it, and here in a sort of collected works, are his essays, fully vindicated by time. Not many economists can say so." --Journal of Economic Literature