'The higher the inequality, the more likely we are to move away from democracy'

an article by Branko Milanovic published in the Guardian on 2 May 2017

In every political system, the rich tend to hold more power – but the relationship between politics, economics and inequality is complex. To better understand these critical issues, we must look to Big Data


View down from the top of Rio de Janeiro Rocinha favela, Brazil. Inequality is high in Latin America and perpetuates across generations. Photograph: Alamy

I am asked this question very often: why should we care about inequality? There are three reasons.

First, every inequality in the treatment or position of individuals – including inequality in income and wealth – requires understanding and justification, because we are all fundamentally the same. That does not mean we should all have the same incomes because our effort and luck may vary, but we need to think about the reasons for any and every inequality.

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Second, we want to study inequality and its effects on economic growth – not only on the growth of the mean, like GDP per capita, but along the entire income distribution: for the poor, the middle class and the rich.

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Finally, we need to look at the relationship between inequality and politics.

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Well explained with some data to illustrate the text and links to further information.

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