Editing Economics (section)

=== Inequality ===
{{Main|Economic inequality}}

Economic inequality includes [[income inequality]], measured using the [[distribution of income]] (the amount of money people receive), and [[wealth inequality]] measured using the [[distribution of wealth]] (the amount of wealth people own), and other measures such as consumption, land ownership, and [[human capital]]. Inequality exists at different extents between countries or states, groups of people, and individuals.<ref name="urlWealth Distribution and Income Inequality by Country 2018 | Global Finance Magazine">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/wealth-distribution-income-inequality|title=World Wealth Distribution And Income Inequality 2022|first1=Luca |last1=Ventura
|website=Global Finance Magazine|date=12 January 2022 }}</ref> There are [[income inequality metrics|many methods]] for measuring inequality,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trapeznikova |first1=Ija |title=Measuring income inequality |journal=IZA World of Labor |date=2019 |doi=10.15185/izawol.462 |url=https://wol.iza.org/articles/measuring-income-inequality|doi-access=free }}</ref> the [[Gini coefficient]] being widely used for income differences among individuals. An example measure of inequality between countries is the [[List of countries by inequality-adjusted HDI|Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index]], a composite index that takes inequality into account.<ref>Human Development Reports. [http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index-ihdi Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712222023/http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index-ihdi |date=July 12, 2019}}. ''United Nations Development Programme''. Retrieved: March 3, 2019.</ref> Important concepts of equality include [[Equity (economics)|equity]], [[equality of outcome]], and [[equality of opportunity]].

Research has linked economic inequality to political and social instability, including [[revolution]], democratic breakdown and civil conflict.<ref name="MacCulloch">{{Cite web |title=Introduction to Inequality |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/Inequality/introduction-to-inequality |access-date=May 9, 2022 |website=IMF |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=MacCulloch |first1=Robert |year=2005 |title=Income Inequality and the Taste for Revolution |journal=The Journal of Law and Economics |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=93–123 |doi=10.1086/426881 |jstor=10.1086/426881 |s2cid=154993058}}</ref><ref name="Acemoglu">{{Cite book |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/economic-origins-of-dictatorship-and-democracy/3F29DF90519971B183CAA16ED0203507 |title=Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy |last2=Robinson |first2=James A. |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521855266 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511510809}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cederman|first1=Lars-Erik |last2=Gleditsch|first2=Kristian Skrede |last3=Buhaug|first3=Halvard |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/inequality-grievances-and-civil-war/39F26D12EFEE2D7D621A59DF74DED496 |title=Inequality, Grievances, and Civil War |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013|isbn=978-1107017429|doi=10.1017/cbo9781139084161}}</ref> 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.<ref name="MacCulloch" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neves |first1=Pedro Cunha |last2=Afonso |first2=Óscar |last3=Silva |first3=Sandra Tavares |year=2016 |title=A Meta-Analytic Reassessment of the Effects of Inequality on Growth |journal=World Development |volume=78 |pages=386–400 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.038}}</ref> Inequality is at the centre stage of [[economic policy]] debate across the globe, as government tax and spending policies have significant effects on income distribution.<ref name="MacCulloch" /> 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.)<ref name="MacCulloch" />