Distributing the future
22 August 2016
The negative implications of inequality are manifold. While devastating for individuals at the bottom of the ladder, evidence also shows that an unequal society causes the economy as a whole to suffer.
Focusing on experiences in Germany, this essay makes the urgent case for public intervention to alleviate the causes, not just the symptoms, of inequality.
It argues that life chances – as determined by wealth, earning potential and educational opportunity – must be more equal in order for society to be equipped to take advantage of technological and scientific progress. To fail to make them so risks damaging a nation’s competiveness in an increasingly globalised world.
Photo credit: Aaron Burden / CC 2.0