Income Distribution Commons^™

What Data On Older Households Tell Us About Wealth Inequality And Entrepreneurship Growth, Christian Weller, Jeffrey Wenger, Benyamin Lichtenstein, Carolyn Arcand

Christian Weller

The data analysis for this report, while focusing on older households, tells an interesting story about the potential link between entrepreneurship and wealth inequality that is relevant for economic policy more broadly. Rising wealth among a subset of higher-income households gave those households the opportunity to pursue entrepreneurial activities that otherwise would not have existed. Older households pursued these activities to generate streams of income that were unrelated to risky business income and because they could use their wealth as collateral. Policymakers interested in promoting increased entrepreneurship among older households—where economic pressures have been very noticeable—could consequently pursue two separate …