Whither Income Inequalities?

Abstract

Some major trends in world income inequalities and relevant economic trends are reviewed here. In recent decades, there have been indications of a reversal of the growing income divergence between North and South after over half a millennium, especially in the last two centuries. Meanwhile, income inequalities within most countries have been growing again, increasing social tensions, which may jeopardize growth in some countries and reshape global economic competition. In the 1960s, when the profit rate and capital’s share of national income in Western countries were highest, income inequality within countries was at a historical low. Since the 1980s, the increasing share of profits in national income and rising inequality within countries have gone hand in hand.

Keywords: Income inequalities within countries, divergence and convergence in the world economy, share of capital and labor in national income

JEL Classification: F02, F63, I30, J31, N00