American inequality has been increasing in recent decades, indicated by the growing wealth gap, stagnant wages, and concentration of wealth and power.
Countervailing power and easier worker unionization are crucial in addressing power imbalances in the economy.
Deep dives
Title 1
Angus Deaton discusses his new book, Economics in America, which explores the land of inequality and offers insights into the problems with the economics profession.
Title 2
Angus Deaton highlights the importance of countervailing power and the need to make it easier for workers to unionize in order to address the power imbalances in the economy.
Title 3
Angus Deaton reflects on the limitations of mainstream economics, including its narrow focus on efficiency and its failure to consider important issues such as minimum wages and unrestricted free trade.
Title 4
Angus Deaton emphasizes the need to challenge the orthodoxy of economics and encourages young economists to explore alternative perspectives and broaden the topics they study.
No matter which indicator you’re using, American inequality has been increasing in recent decades. Whether you’re measuring the growing wealth gap, the stagnant wages of the middle class, or the concentration of wealth and power among a small group of elites, every indicator unfailingly suggests that inequality is getting worse. Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton joins the podcast to talk about his recent book on the subject, Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality, in which he explains how his own experience as an immigrant has shaped his understanding of American inequality and its impact on upward mobility.
Angus Deaton is a renowned economist and author known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of poverty, inequality, and health. He is a 2015 Nobel Prize Laureate and is currently a Senior Scholar and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs Emeritus at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.