Working For the Few: Political Capture and Economic Inequality

Fuentes-Nieva, Ricardo and Galasso, V. Nicholas (2014): Working For the Few: Political Capture and Economic Inequality. Published in: (20 January 2014)

Abstract

Economic inequality is rapidly increasing in the majority of countries. The wealth of the world is divided in two: almost half going to the richest one percent; the other half to the remaining 99 percent. The World Economic Forum has identified this as a major risk to human progress. Extreme economic inequality and political capture are too often interdependent. Left unchecked, political institutions become undermined and governments overwhelmingly serve the interests of economic elites to the detriment of ordinary people.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: inequality, economic inequality, wealth inequality, income inequality, democracy,political representation
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F1 - Trade; F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization; H - Public Economics > H1 - Structure and Scope of Government; H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H23 - Externalities ; Redistributive Effects ; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements

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