DOI: 10.1057/9781137388117.0001 Economic Inequality and Policy Control in the United States
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Economic Inequality and Policy Control in the United States Mark Stelzner Assistant Professor, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan DOI: 10.1057/9781137388117.0001
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND POLICY CONTROL IN THE UNITED STATES Copyright Mark Stelzner, 2015. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-38964-0 All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978 1 137 38811 7 PDF ISBN: 978-1-349-48248-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. First edition: 2015 www.palgrave.com/pivot doi: 10.1057/9781137388117
Contents List of Illustrations vi 1 Income Inequality in the United States Today 1 2 Changing the Rules of the Game 19 3 The Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and the New Era 35 4 Mixed Results 57 5 Cycles of Policy Control 73 6 How Do We Fix It? 91 Bibliography 99 Index 104 DOI: 10.1057/9781137388117.0001 v
List of Illustrations Figures 1.1 Income share of top 10 percent in the United States 4 1.2 Income share of top 1 percent in the United States 10 1.3 Income share of top 10 and bottom 9 percent in the United States 11 1.4 Income share of top 1 and bottom 0.9 percent in the United States 12 1.5 Income share of top 1 percent 14 2.1 Union coverage among private sector, nonagricultural workers 26 2.2 Union coverage and income inequality 30 3.1 Income share of top 1 percent of tax units in the United States 37 3.2 Index of court activity in regard to state-level labor laws 42 3.3 The orientation of laws and institutions from the 1870s through the 1920s 48 3.4 Coincidence of change in laws and institutions and income inequality 51 4.1 Real federal minimum wage in the United States 59 4.2 Periods in US history evolution of income inequality and the orientation of laws and institutions 65 5.1 The evolution of solidarity and political control 80 vi DOI: 10.1057/9781137388117.0002
List of Illustrations vii 5.2 Periods in US history evolution of income inequality and the orientation of laws and institutions 81 5.3 The evolution of solidarity and political control 88 Table 2.1 Percentage use of certain illegal anti-union tactics 25 DOI: 10.1057/9781137388117.0002