Income inequality : a summary of the Bank's 1998 Symposium

Income inequality has become an increasingly important public policy issue in industrialized countries in recent years. Although macroeconomic conditions have been favorable in many of these countries, the distribution of income within and across countries has remained uneven. In fact, in several countries, income inequality has risen. As a result, policymakers have become concerned that large segments of the population are not reaping the benefits of economic growth.> To gain a better understanding of these issues, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City sponsored a symposium titled \\"Income Inequality: Issues and Policy Options\\" held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 27-29, 1998. The symposium brought together a distinguished group of public officials, academics, and private-sector representatives. The discussion was far-ranging and insightful. As moderator Alice Rivlin noted toward the end of the conference, while there was a divergence of opinion in several areas, there was a consensus that \\"poverty, deprivation, and lack of opportunity are things that ought to be of great concern to us.\\"> Weiner and Monto summarize the papers and commentary presented at the symposium. The first section reviews the changes in income inequality patterns over the past two decades. The second explores the reasons for these changes. Monetary policy links and the economic impact of distributional change are taken up in the following two sections. The final section considers policy options and summarizes the remarks of an overview panel.