Redistribution has very little effect on poverty, even at extreme levels.<p>The growth over the last 20 years is much less than before, which is a likely cause of the increasing inequality. In a zero-sum economy, trade tends to concentrate wealth.[1] Growth is plausibly strong enough to counteract this, and historically, is overwhelmingly correlated with falling inequality.<p>Policy is much weaker than growth at doing anything. I personally favor progressive taxation and a basic income, and I think we can continue to improve the effectiveness of policy, but governments (and humans generally) don&#x27;t have so much freedom in economic matters as is often supposed.[2][3]<p>Free trade doesn&#x27;t cause growth (as ten thousand years of history prior to 1800 shows) but it may be a necessary condition for it.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;nbviewer.ipython.org&#x2F;url&#x2F;norvig.com&#x2F;ipython&#x2F;Economics.ipynb" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;nbviewer.ipython.org&#x2F;url&#x2F;norvig.com&#x2F;ipython&#x2F;Economics...</a>
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