After the Great Recession, as the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 has become known as, the need for greater economic research led to the founding of The Institute for New Economic Thinking. This think-tank is dedicated to the perpetuation of economic innovation and sharing new economic thought. One could practically get lost in the depths of information, interviews, videos, and blogs through-out their website.
Here is just a glimpse at what they have to offer with a post from The Institute’s Blog: The Chartbook of Economic Inequality By Tony Atkinson and Salvatore Morelli.
“The acute loss of job prospects, especially among the young, the credit crunch, and the austerity measures implemented by governments to contain the sovereign debt crisis have all put an extra burden on the shoulders of the lower and middle classes. Public discourse has started to openly debate the economic implications, as well as the legitimacy, of increasingly powerful elites seizing a growing share of the national pie year after year. These concerns led Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, to point to the need for “addressing inequality and building inclusive growth” as one of three “milestones” of the future global economy.
To make sense of these concerns and offer advice on policy, we need hard evidence about the extent of economic inequality, about how it is changing, and about how it compares across nations. Interestingly, researchers and scholars have also begun to single out inequality as one of the structural causes of the recent financial crisis.”
Interactive Visualisation of Income Inequality of America
This weekend the Institute will be hosting its fifth annual convention in Toronto, Canada, where Wade Hands, a respected and well-published economics professor from the University of Puget Sound, will be attending. The conference is invitation only, however the events at the convention will be open to the public via their website .