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An Economic Analysis Of Economic Inequality, John P. Huttman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

"Inequality is what economics should be all about," argued the late R.H. Tawney. It isn't, because concern with the patterns of distribution of wealth and income is shared with production, upon which consumption is contingent. Concentration of wealth and unequal levels of income largely reflect the patterns of returns to labor and investment in a traditional capitalist economy. Additionally, income tromfers, rationalized on other than a labor or investment compensation basis, alter the patterns of income and wealth holdings. Pronounced economic inequality, while prevalent in capitalist economies, would not seem to result from the market mechanism. Broadly based ownership of …