"The Politics of Income Inequality"

The Politics of Income Inequality

by Eduardo Porter at the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/business/economy/the-politics-of-income-inequality.html?_r=0

"SNIP......................


The growing concentration of income can, in fact, make inequality more difficult to correct, as the wealthy bring their wealth to bear on the political process to maintain their privilege.

What’s more, disparities in income seem to produce political polarization and gridlock, which tend to favor those who receive a better deal from the prevailing rules, says Francesco Trebbi, an expert on political economy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

The American political system may eventually act against the interests of the fortunate few at the very top of the pyramid of success. But that may be only because many affluent, powerful people just below the top notch see themselves as losers from the nation’s economic dynamics.

“The really upset people are those that are well in the top of the distribution,” said Nolan McCarty, a political scientist at Princeton. “There could be a populist uprising, but that is less likely than a battle within the top 1 percent.”



......................SNIP"