Inequality and its impact on development

Abstract

Inequality is an economic phenomenon that has always existed in human history. The differences on wealth, opportunities and even rights are older than civilization itself. Alongside this, the explanations and justifications for inequality have varied through time (from divine rights of the elites to work meritocracy). Whatever the motives are, human societies rarely move towards a perfectly equal distribution of resources. In most of today’s democracies, though, we find several attempts at redistribution and a strong interest in allowing universal opportunities for the entire population. In this paper I analyse inequality in a worldwide scale, with the intention of discovering its dynamics and discerning if it impacts the growth and development of nations and people, answering the question: Does inequality affect the development of nations?