Why Rising Inequality Doesn't Stimulate Political Action

Economic inequality is high and rising, but Ameri…

An episode of the The Science of Politics podcast, hosted by Niskanen Center, titled "Why Rising Inequality Doesn't Stimulate Political Action" was published on July 14, 2021 and runs 52 minutes.

July 14, 2021 ·52m · The Science of Politics

Summary

Economic inequality is high and rising, but Americans aren’t clamoring for government action to address it. Nathan Kelly finds that rising economic inequality, rather than making the public favor redistribution, actually helps Republicans electorally and leads to policies that further entrench it and away from policies to combat it. Meghan Condon finds that Americans react to inequality by comparing themselves with those who have less, rather than to the rich, imaging themselves better off than others who they think don’t work as hard. They both say rising inequality does not make it easier to address through political action.

Episode Description