Inequality: Part II, Episode 29

Ceteris Never Paribus: The History of Economic Thought Podcast

Guests: Erik Bengtsson (Lund University), Pat Hudson (Cardiff University) and Keith Tribe (Tartu University) Host and Producer: Maria Bach (Centre Walras-Pareto, University of Lausanne) Erik Bengtsson, an economic historian of Sweden, refers to this cartoon which depicts the parliament in session when an invisible hand writes "General Strike" on the board published in a national newspaper, Söndags Nisse in 1906. Taken from Fredrik Ström's Arbetets söner: text och bilder ur den svenska arbetarrörelsens saga. Third Edition. Steinsviks bokförlag AB, 1959. As we heard in part one of our series on inequality, researchers looking at inequality urge people to look more on the micro level because the trends and causes are not universal across time and space. So in this second part, we look at why and how inequality goes up and down depending on where you look. All the examples you will hear, in some way, critique and build upon Thomas Piketty’s comparative approach. We will hear from Erik Bengtsson, who studies the trends of inequality in Sweden. To check out Erik's work, click here. We will also hear from Keith Tribe and his co-editor Pat Hudson talk about their collected work called The Contradictions of Capital in the 21st century in which they build upon the renewed interest in the long run global development of wealth inequality stimulated by the publication of Piketty’s book Capital in the 21st Century. To watch the TED talk video on inequality featured at the beginning, go here. Featured music (apart from the usual intro and outro music): Sounds by Dave JF, Atmosphere 12, and Jordan Powell, Erokia. Finally, thanks to David Philippy for helping with production.