ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the data on income and wealth inequality in the United States and other developed countries. It looks at explanations for increasing inequality provided by political economists and political economists focus on factors such as social class and class power in explaining inequality. The chapter discusses views towards inequality coming from mainstream economists, who see inequality as driven by differences in skills, abilities, and productivity. It argues issues of inequality with respect to race and gender. The chapter describes the approaches used by feminist economists and stratification economists to analyze the inequities present in the economic system. Research in political economics identifies social class as the primary determinant of inequality. Social capital is the network to which a person has access, and it also presents opportunities to those who are well-connected. Globalization has had a very uneven impact on various groups of people.
