wealth gap (fwd)

Network-

A slightly edited version of this letter is supposed to run in tomorrow's
NYT.

RH


Editor:

"Why Decry the Wealth Gap?" ask W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm
(Op Ed, Jan. 24).  Nothing could be simpler.  Reason number one is that
inequality is correlated with political instability, one of the strongest
findings of cross-national research.  Reason number two is that inequality
is correlated with violent crime.  If these do not seem weighty enough,
reason number three is that economic inequality is correlated with reduced
life expectancy, shown by a large and growing body of public health
research.  This is in addition to the effects of absolute poverty -- at
higher income levels, the relative income, or inequality, of a society has
a strong negative effect on health.

Of course reason number four is simple justice.  There is no moral
justification for CEOs being paid hundreds of times more than ordinary
employees.  Efforts to curb inequality do not "invariably do more
harm than good," as Cox and Alm would have it.  Social policies that
reduce inequality, such as progressive taxation and living wages, should
be strengthened and expanded for the health and well-being of all those
not at the top of the pyramid.

Richard Hutchinson
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Weber State University
Ogden, Utah