Big Banks and Income Disparity Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz
made some critically important observations in the Sunday New
York Times. He pointed out that income disparity is a cause of
the maddeningly slow recovery from the effects of the Great
Recession, not merely a consequence of it. He drew parallels to
the income disparity that predated the Great Depression. In my
view he is correct, though there are persuasive opinions to the
contrary. One key to reducing inequality it tackling structural
elements of the financial system that contribute to the widening
income gap. The economy needs to promote parity, and the
financial system as it currently functions is an impediment.
Income disparity is illustrated by the widely known Saez-Piketty
graph that garnered so much attention a few years ago: This
graph cries out to be compared with another that depicts wages
and education in the financial sector compared with other
sectors of the economy: The academics who compiled the data on
financial sector wages and ed