User:Teoprocar72/Economic inequality

Stan, you did a great job! The lead is very clearly written and specific, and covers all of the sections very well. The content you added improves the section, considering the health effects were a little vague and weren't as detailed as they could have been, though there is a separate Wikipedia page for effects of economic inequality. You are dealing with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps, since there are high rates of inequality and economic disparity in many countries. The article also discusses the ways race and gender affect economic disparity. The article discusses the correlation between health problems and countries with higher inequality, but didn't mention the relationship between human health capital and human per capita income levels. The content you added is neutral and unbiased, and the viewpoints are evenly represented. The source is reliable, and your additions reflected the information in the source very well. The sources are written by a diverse spectrum of authors, and are fairly current, considering they are mostly from the 1990's and 2000's. One thing I would suggest is that you add a little more to the other effects, because some of them could be more detailed. The content you added is very clear and easy to read. I think, overall, that you did a very good job making a meaningful contribution to the article.

- Catherine

Lead
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of wealth people own). Besides economic inequality between countries or states, there are important types of economic inequality between different groups of people.

Important types of economic measurements focus on wealth, income, and consumption. There are many methods for measuring economic inequality, the Gini coefficient being a widely used one. Another type of measure is the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, which is a statistic composite index that takes inequality into account. Important concepts of equality include equity, equality of outcome, and equality of opportunity.

Whereas globalization has reduced global inequality (between nations), it has increased inequality within nations. Income inequality between nations peaked in the 1970s, when world income was distributed bimodally into "rich" and "poor" countries. Since then, income levels across countries have been converging, with most people now living in middle-income countries. However, inequality within most nations has risen significantly in the last 30 years, particularly among advanced countries. In this period, close to 90 percent of advanced economies have seen an increase in income inequality, with over 70% recording an increase in their Gini coefficients exceeding two points.

Research has generally linked economic inequality to political and social instability, including revolution, democratic breakdown and civil conflict. Research suggests that greater inequality hinders economic growth and macroeconomic stability, and that land and human capital inequality reduce growth more than inequality of income. Inequality is at the center stage of economic policy debate across the globe, as government tax and spending policies have significant effects on income distribution. In advanced economies, taxes and transfers decrease income inequality by one-third, with most of this being achieved via public social spending (such as pensions and family benefits).

Article body
For long time the higher material living standards lead to longer life, as those people were able to get enough food, water and access to warmth. British researchers Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have found higher rates of health and social problems (obesity, mental illness, homicides, teenage births, incarceration, child conflict, drug use) in countries and states with higher inequality. Their research included 24 developed countries, including most U.S. states, and found that in the more developed countries, such as Finland and Japan, the heath issues are much lower than in states with rather higher inequality rates, such as Utah and New Hampshire. Some studies link a surge in "deaths of despair", suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol related deaths, to widening income inequality. Conversely, other research did not find these effects or concluded that research suffered from issues of confounding variables'''. Along with this, researcher Naeem Akram has found that health indicators have a significant impact on long run per-capita GDP values . Studies conveyed that investment in human health capital will have a positive causal relationship with human per capita income levels .'''