Professor Neil Cummins, Professor Joan Roses & Professor Mike Savage

Is a growing gap between the ultra-rich, and the rest, necessary for economic growth? What are the historical precedents for our current global inequity?

The distribution of the gains from capitalism, globalisation and technological progress preoccupies academic and popular discourse. This course will introduce students to the study and history of these economic inequalities.

We will examine:

• How to conceptualise inequality
• How has inequality changed over time?
• What causes inequality to rise or fall?
• How has social mobility changed over time?
• What is the relationship between inequality and social mobility?
• How important is inheritance in determining wealth?
• Aspects of gender, and ethnic inequalities, over time

A detailed survey of the key evidence on inequality, both contemporary and historical, and the sources and methods used to measure it. Students will learn how to critically interrogate the quality of inferences from such evidence. They will explore the dimensions of inequality along historical, contemporary, spatial, ethnic and gender lines, drawing on research in economic history, economic geography and sociology.