More or Less

Branko Milanovic
Income inequality has risen over the past quarter-century instead of falling as expected

Listen to podcast: The Rise of Inequality

Equality and Efficiency

Andrew G. Berg and Jonathan D. Ostry
Is there a trade-off between the two or do they go hand in hand?

A Bigger Slice of a Growing Pie

Sarwat Jahan and Brad McDonald
Developing the financial sector accelerates economic growth and can enhance income equality

Painful Medicine

Laurence Ball, Daniel Leigh, and
Prakash Loungani
Although advanced economies need medium-run fiscal consolidation, slamming on the brakes too quickly will hurt incomes and job prospects

Listen to our podcast: Managing the Pain of Fiscal Consolidation

Unemployed in Europe

Hanan Morsy
The most vulnerable Europeans were also the most susceptible to losing their jobs, which exacerbated inequality in the region

Unequal = Indebted

Michael Kumhof and Romain Rancière
Higher income inequality in developed countries is associated with higher domestic and foreign indebtedness

Picture This: Inequality over the Past Century

Facundo Alvaredo
After declining in the first half of the 20th century, income inequality makes a comeback

Also in This Issue

Fiscal Neighbors

Jiri Jonas and Cemile Sancak
Canada and the United States confronted growing budget deficits and public debt but the results differed

Watch our video: Chipping Away
at Debt

Municipal Fallout

Rabah Arezki, Bertrand Candelon, and
Amadou N.R. Sy
U.S. state bond markets are not insulated from each other but are from the federal bond market

Differing Benefits

Adolfo Barajas, Ralph Chami, and Reza Seyed Yousefi
Financial development does not give the same growth boost to all countries

Unconventional Behavior

Mark Stone, Kenji Fujita, and Kotaro Ishi
Innovative balance sheet policies of central banks helped during the recession, but they should be used only in exceptional circumstances

Trading Places

Richard Harmsen and Nagwa Riad
Emerging markets are becoming major trading centers thanks to global supply chains and high-technology exports

Harnessing Diasporas

Dilip Ratha and Sonia Plaza
Africa can tap some of its millions of emigrants to help development efforts

Listen to our podcast: Harnessing Diasporas

More Europe, Not Less

Céline Allard
The euro area is learning from its debt crisis that it needs a more centralized approach to fiscal and financial policies