Why is income inequality now in the media spotlight?
Despite the rise in income inequality over the past several decades, the issue was largely ignored. The Economist article on income inequality suggests this lack of attention in the years before the financial crisis was because “asset bubbles and cheap credit eased life for everyone. Financiers were growing fabulously wealthy in the early 2000s, but others could also borrow ever more against the value of their home.”2
The situation changed after the financial crisis: “The bank rescues shone a spotlight on the unfairness of a system in which affluent bankers were bailed out whereas ordinary folk lost their houses and jobs.”3 Inequality moved into the media and political spotlights. For example, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2012 report surveyed 469 experts from industry, government, academia, and civil society on what global risk was perceived to be most likely to occur over the next 10 years. “Severe income inequality” topped the list, tied with “chronic fiscal imbalances.”4