Not Markets Alone: Enriching the Discussion of Income Distribution
Author(s)
Tilly, Chris; Albelda, Randy
Abstract
The resurgence of inequality in the industrialized world, particularly in the United States, over the last quarter of the twentieth century has revived old debates in economics about the relationship between inequality and growth. This article argues that the realities of income distribution gets short shrift in this discussion – that growth is prioritized and only market-based factors are given serious consideration. Yet there are good reasons for concern about income distribution in its own right and good reasons to examine income distribution in the context of the political and social institutions that shape and constrain it. A richer understanding of income distribution can be found in several economic theories outside the mainstream, particularly within the Marxist and Keynesian traditions. But for a comprehensive investigation, economics must seek insight from related disciplines in the social sciences.
