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An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do?

An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do?. Richard Harris Professor, University of Bristol. Session 1: Thinking about inequality. An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do?. Social and Economic inequality. s ource: http:// www.bbc.co.uk /news/business-35339475. Top 10% (2013).

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An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do?

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  1. An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do? Richard HarrisProfessor, University of Bristol

  2. Session 1: Thinking about inequality An Unequal Society: What Must Christians Do?

  3. Social and Economic inequality source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35339475

  4. Top 10% (2013) Source: OECD, 2015

  5. Bottom 10% (2013) Source: OECD, 2015

  6. Source: Income inequality in the UK (House of Commons Briefing Paper)

  7. source: http://inequalitybriefing.org

  8. Some questions about inequality Does it exist? Is it increasing? If yes, why is it increasing? Does it matter? If yes, for whom? What can be done?

  9. Is it true? • Economic inequalities between rich and poor countries are decreasing • In 1990, almost half of the population in developing regions lived on less than $1.25 a day. This rate dropped to 22 per cent by 2010, reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty by 700 million (UN Millennium Development Goals Report, 2014) • But, what about economic inequalities within countries?

  10. Within the UK Source: Income inequality in the UK (House of Commons Briefing Paper)

  11. Within the UK Source: Income inequality in the UK (House of Commons Briefing Paper)

  12. The rise of the 1% Source: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2016/01/62-people-own-same-as-half-world-says-oxfam-inequality-report-davos-world-economic-forum

  13. In the UK Source: Income inequality in the UK (House of Commons Briefing Paper)

  14. In the US Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/03/how-you-i-and-everyone-got-the-top-1-percent-all-wrong/359862/

  15. In the US Source: Oxfam (2016) An Economy for the 1%

  16. Worldwide Source: Oxfam (2016) An Economy for the 1%

  17. The 1% or the 0.01% ? Source: http://houseofdebt.org/2014/03/29/measuring-wealth-inequality.html

  18. Meanwhile… Average (median) weekly earnings in the UK Source: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/real-wages-and-living-standards-the-latest-uk-evidence/

  19. International real hourly earnings growth, 2008-13 Source: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/real-wages-and-living-standards-the-latest-uk-evidence/ after OECD, 2014

  20. Source: Oxfam (2016) An Economy for the 1%

  21. Why is it happening?

  22. Why is it happening? • Piketty’s theory • Income • Labour income: wages, salaries, benefits, … • Capital income: dividends, interest, retained profits of companies, house price inflation, rental income, … • r > g • Return on capital is rising faster than the growth of national economies

  23. The capital/income ratio in Europe, 1870-2010 Source: piketty.pse.ens.fr/capital21c

  24. Source: Oxfam (2016) An Economy for the 1%

  25. Well worth reading • A beautifully written rally against the “unjust and dysfunctional mechanisms that allows the 1% to siphon off wealth produced by others through the control of property and money.”

  26. Effects of taxation? Source: Atkinson (2015)

  27. Effects of taxation? Source: Atkinson (2015)

  28. Tax and spend? • “No advanced economy achieved a low level of inequality and/or relative income poverty with a low level of social spending, regardless of how well that country performed on other dimensions that matter for poverty.” • Marx (not that one!) et al., quoted by Atkinson (2015)

  29. Does it matter?

  30. Source: https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/the-spirit-level

  31. The Spirit Level documentary http://thedividedocumentary.com/

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