«Bør økonomer se på velferdsstaten som en kostnad på statsbudsjettet, eller som en drivkraft for økonomisk vekst? Og er lønnsutgifter en kostnad som bør minimeres for øke landets konkurranseevne, eller den viktigste drivkraften for å øke etterspørsel og produksjon i en økonomi? Den italienske statsviteren Pasquale Tridico har skrevet boken «Inequality in Financial Capitalism», der han forklarer hvorfor velferdsstaten er bra for økonomien.»

Dette skriver forlaget om boken:
Recently, the issue of inequality has regained attention in the economic and political debate. This is due to both an increase in income inequality, in particular among rich countries, and an increasing interest in this issue by researchers and politicians. In the last three decades, income inequality among rich countries increased. This period also witnessed the growth of “financial capitalism”, characterised by the strong dependency of economies on the financial sector, by the globalisation and intensification of international trade and capital mobility, and by the “flexibilisation” of labour markets and the reduction of wage shares.

From the 1980s to the present day, this book considers the theoretical aspects of inequality (its foundations, definitions, approaches and origins) and examines empirical evidence of income inequality in a wide range of advanced economies. The key arguments in this volume are that income inequality increased during this period because labour and welfare became seen as costs to be compressed in “financial capitalism” rather than as a fundamental part of aggregate demand to be expanded. However, the welfare state is not a drain on economic performance and competitiveness, nor is it a barrier to economic efficiency. Instead, it is demonstrated that in countries that adopt “welfare capitalism”, welfare state expenditure not only contributes to a reduction in inequality but also fosters economic growth.

Medarrangør: Rethinking Economics

Arrangementet vil foregå på engelsk.