Assignment:
Topic: Income Inequality
Task: Main paper writing assignment Inequality
The situation:
In the wake of the financial crisis inequality has again become a hotly debated topic. In recent years, several studies have presented evidence that income inequality has increased significantly over the last 25 years in many regions of the world. As a response, the debate about economic inequality has intensified and become a focus of public attention. This is, for example, reflected in the success of Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the 21st century" which was the top selling book on Amazon (fiction included) in America.
Your writing assignment:
Your paper should contain two key elements (not necessarily in this order). First, provide evidence on the extent of economic inequality in a certain country or region of your choice, or the world as a whole. Second, discuss, using your knowledge from the course, in particular, concerning efficiency, taxation, and deadweight loss, the general problems and advantages associated with economic inequality. Aspects which you could consider are: What are the causes of economic inequality? Do we "need" economic inequality and, if yes, to what extent?
How can we design policies that reduce economic inequality?
Suggested resources:
There is a wealth of information available about economic inequality, which you can easily find. We expect you to consult at least three academic journal articles and your textbook. You may consult more. ‘Academic journal articles' may include research articles and similar studies produced by research institutes and university economics departments. They do not include newspaper articles.
A good start into the topic is:
Mankiw, N. G. (2013). Defending the one percent. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(3), 21-34.
A nice summary of Piketty's book can be found in:
Milanovic, B. (2014). The return of "patrimonial capitalism": A review of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the twenty-first century. Journal of Economic Literature, 52(2), 519-34.
Length: 1800 to 2200 words.