Tag Archives: inequality

The Long Divorce Between the Economy and Financial Markets

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Oleg Komlik

by Ken-Hou Lin and Megan Tobias Neely* As the coronavirus spread around the world, the global economy entered a recession unprecedented in scale. The World Bank predicts a 5.2 percent economic contraction by the end of this year—the largest downturn … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged financial crisis, financialization, inequality, neoliberalism, United States | 4 Comments

Democratizing Finance: Reducing Inequalities of Income, Wealth and Power

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Oleg Komlik

Politics & Society has just published a thought-provoking special issue titled “Democratizing Finance”. This very interesting collection of papers resulted from a workshop organized in July 2018 by the late Erik Olin Wright as part of his inspiring Real Utopias Project. … Continue reading →

Posted in Papers | Tagged central banking, democracy, Erik Olin Wright, finance, inequality, money, power, wealth | Leave a comment

Elite Men and Inequality in the Hedge Fund Industry

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

by Megan Tobias Neely* “I’m sorry, but so and so’s brother needed to get hired. Shit happens,” Karen recounted, with resignation, a time her boss denied her a promotion. Karen is a white woman who works at a hedge fund, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Community members posts, Papers | Tagged class, elite, finance, gender, inequality, race, social networks | Leave a comment

Human Being in the ATM called New York

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

Newsstand, 7th Ave & 28th St intersection, Manhattan, New York City, USA (photo courtesy of Professor Darren Rosenblum) *** Join Economic Sociology and Political Economy community via Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Google+ / Instagram / Tumblr / Reddit / Telegram

Posted in Oleg Komlik | Tagged inequality, neoliberalism, protest | 1 Comment

Income Inequality is Detrimental to Political and Civil Equality

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

“Money provides power and power provides freedom”, asserted C. Wright Mills in his masterpiece The Power Elite sixty years ago (1956: 162). In shadow of recent several decades of globalization and neoliberalism, University of Utah researcher Wade Cole took Mills’ argument a step further and … Continue reading →

Posted in Papers | Tagged civil society, elites, inequality, neoliberalism, politics, rights | 2 Comments

Stephen Hawking: Technology drives ever-increasing inequality

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

On 6 October 2015, a great theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking conducted a special Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session. Out of the thousands of submitted issues, Hawking selected those he wished to reply, mainly discussing aspects of artificial intelligence. In conclusion, Hawking … Continue reading →

Posted in Oleg Komlik | Tagged class, inequality, technology | 4 Comments

Being the 1%, or What It Means to Be Entitled

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Oleg Komlik

by Rachel Sherman* Most contemporary research on economic inequality focuses on the causes, contours, and consequences of unequal distributions of resources. But how they do such distributions become legitimate? Why do people accept them, and even take them for granted? Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Community members posts | Tagged class, consumption, elites, inequality, money, morality, privilege, wealth | 3 Comments

World Inequality Report 2018: Great Data, Bright Analysis, Perturbing Reality

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Oleg Komlik

The World Inequality Lab led by Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, Facundo Alvaredo and Lucas Chancel released today the first of its kind World Inequality Report 2018. The Report aims to become the comprehensive reference report on income and wealth inequality around … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Oleg Komlik | Tagged economic history, inequality, neoliberalism, policy, Political economy, wealth | 7 Comments

Inequality — The Reality in Two Push Alerts

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Oleg Komlik

*** Join the Economic Sociology and Political Economy community via Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Google+ / Instagram / Tumblr

Posted in Books, Theory in Pictures | Tagged elite, inequality | Leave a comment

BREAKING NEWS from Davos: 2500 people controlling the world economy got out of their limos and recalled the “problem of inequality”

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Oleg Komlik

It would be funny if it wasn’t shamefully true… See also: “I don’t see any income inequality!” “Me neither!” and Goldman Sachs banker: “We have to accept that inequality is a way of achieving greater opportunity and prosperity for all” *** Join the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Theory in Pictures | Tagged elite, inequality | 1 Comment

Unpaid Labor and the Neoliberal Myth of Meritocracy

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Oleg Komlik

Several months ago, a British journalist and writer James Bloodworth published his first book The Myth of Meritocracy: Why Working-Class Kids Still Get Working Class Jobs. The main thesis of the book is precisely reflected in its title: it discusses the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Name and Shame | Tagged inequality, labor, Middle class, neoliberalism, precariat | 2 Comments

Income Inequality

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Oleg Komlik

“I don’t see any income inequality!” “Me neither!” (A cartoon by Signe Wilkinson) *** Join the Economic Sociology and Political Economy community through Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Google+ / Reddit / Tumblr

Posted in Theory in Pictures | Tagged inequality, neoliberalism | 2 Comments

Goldman Sachs banker: “We have to accept that inequality is a way of achieving greater opportunity and prosperity for all”

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Oleg Komlik

Defending huge bonuses in banking industry on a panel on ethics, Lord Brian Griffiths (Vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs bank and a adviser to Margaret Thatcher) proudly said: “We have to accept that inequality is a way of achieving greater opportunity and … Continue reading →

Posted in Oleg Komlik | Tagged inequality, neoliberalism | 2 Comments

When public good exchanged to private gain: neoliberalism, higher education and social inequality

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Oleg Komlik

Public higher education has a long history, and with its growth it is associated with the extension of a social right to education from secondary schooling to university studies. Following the rise in student numbers since the 1970s, the aspiration … Continue reading →