Richmond Fed's Economic Quarterly Examines the Evolution of U.S. Income Inequality

Market Wire, August, 2008

Income inequality in the United States has received considerable attention in recent policy debates. Richmond Fed economists Kevin A. Bryan and Leonardo Martinez find that income inequality has risen since the 1960s, and that this is explained mainly by increases in inequality at the top of the income distribution. In addition, they document periods characterized by a decline in real income for lower income groups. Bryan and Martinez also explain that welfare inequality may have increased less than income inequality and, in fact, may actually have decreased, due to changing trends in leisure consumption.

You can find the full text of this article and others in the latest issue of Economic Quarterly at: http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/economic_research/economic_quarterly/

Also in the Spring 2008 issue:

--  "On the Sources of Movements in Inflation Expectations: A Few Insights
    from a VAR Model" by Yash P. Mehra and Christopher Herrington

--  "What is the Monetary Standard, Or, How Did the Volcker-Greenspan
    FOMCs Tame Inflation?" by Robert L. Hetzel

--  "Limits to Redistribution and Intertemporal Wedges: Implications of
    Pareto Optimality with Private Information" by Borys Grochulski
    

The Economic Quarterly is a free publication containing economic analysis pertinent to Federal Reserve monetary and banking policy. For free copies or more information, contact the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Public Affairs office at 804.697.7982.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of 12 District Reserve Banks that together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. The Richmond Fed serves the Fifth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia.

Contacts: John Weinberg Director of Research Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond 804.697.8205 Amanda Kramer Managing Editor Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Quarterly Email Contact 804.697.8606