Latest articles- The ‘nothing for something’ benefits system May 15, 2012 Ben Baumberg
- Should the government promote marriages among the disadvantaged? May 3, 2012 Brendan Saloner
- Immigration and the Moral Claim to Health Benefits April 17, 2012 Brendan Saloner
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Tag Archives: fairness
The ‘nothing for something’ benefits system
Some phrases just stick. While British politicians often bemoan the ‘something for nothing’ culture in the benefits system, somehow the other side of this has been missed. Yet there are people who contribute to the welfare state for decades, and … Continue reading
The hidden costs of disability
How much does a disability cost you? Let’s take the example that (slightly too easily) comes to mind for most people: a disability that means you need a wheelchair to get around – how much of a dent in your … Continue reading
Is Economic Fairness a Winning Message in 2012?
In the 2012 reelection campaign, President Obama is defining himself in terms of economic fairness. The word “fair” was used nine times in the State of the Union Address, and symbols of economic inequality were on full display (including Warren … Continue reading
Posted in Blog posts
Tagged 2012 US elections, economic growth, fairness, occupy wall street, politics of inequality, public opinion
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Straight Talk on Economic Mobility
Americans may be skeptical of some large welfare state programs, but a widely shared conviction is that children that are born to poor parents should have the chance to move upward. That’s why it was good to hear President Obama … Continue reading
Posted in Blog posts
Tagged fairness, income dispersion, mobility, politics of inequality, public opinion
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The deservingness of benefit claimants (I)
This is the first of three linked posts on the ‘deservingness of benefit claimants’. In this post, I explain the title, speak about the BBC programme that prompted the posts, and suggest why the British public massively overestimate the levels … Continue reading
Posted in Articles
Tagged fairness, political attitudes, public opinion, welfare payments
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There’s More to Poverty than the Cost of Living
This is the second post in a series of three focused on the measurement of U.S. poverty As I described in my last post, virtually nobody is very happy with the official poverty measure in the United States. Commentators on … Continue reading
Making bad jobs better
At the very time when people are thankful to have any job, it seems a bit perverse to be talking about ‘good jobs’. But in a remarkably interesting one-day conference yesterday, I was convinced that this is exactly the time that we … Continue reading
Ugliness and the Judgmental Society
There’s an ugly truth: being attractive pays well, and being unnatractive is a major penalty in the job market. Those with physical appearances rated in the bottom earn on average $230,000 less over the lifetime than those with rated good … Continue reading
Most American Households Have Tight Budgets
Congressional Republicans who favor raising taxes on the rich to reduce the deficit are harder to find these days than salad at a state fair. One argument that is commonly made is that we cannot expect the rich to pay … Continue reading
How generational inequality helped set England’s cities alight
In a guest post, Craig Berry argues that we need to look at intergenerational relations – including the capture of wealth by the baby boomers – to truly understand the London riots. England’s riots expose an inconvenient truth: Britain has become a highly unequal … Continue reading
