Fading Hope in the US

11 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2012

See all articles by Jo Ritzen

Jo Ritzen

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Klaus F. Zimmermann

Global Labor Organization (GLO); UNU-MERIT; Maastricht University, Department of Economics; Free University Berlin; University of Bonn; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Journal of Population Economics

Abstract

A substantial literature claims that the strong increase in inequality over the last decade in countries such as the US would lead to a collapse of society. Fading hopes in the population seem to confirm this. The paper rejects this interpretation since the decline in hopes cannot be traced back to rising inequality.

Keywords: confidence, ethnicity, hope, human capital, income inequality

JEL Classification: D31, J15

Suggested Citation

Ritzen, Jo and Zimmermann, Klaus F., Fading Hope in the US. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6340, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2007331 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2007331

Jo Ritzen (Contact Author)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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Klaus F. Zimmermann

Global Labor Organization (GLO) ( email )

Bonn
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UNU-MERIT ( email )

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Maastricht University, Department of Economics ( email )

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