“The godfather of inequality research,” is how The Economist describes septuagenarian British economist Anthony Atkinson. A frequent co-author with Thomas Piketty and Joe Stiglitz, Sir Atkinson has written a book about inequality which a New York Times reviewer described as a “flurry of largely recycled policy proposals.” Inequality: What can be done? is all about “unapologetic support for aggressive government intervention,” says The Economist, and “a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s.”
There is no need to buy the book, because the following summary – “15 Proposals from Tony Atkinson’s book ‘Inequality: What can be done?’ – is more than enough. Each Proposal is in the author’s own words, but followed by my own view of Problems with those plans. [I skip Proposals 9–11, which are just inflated versions of policies similar to those in the U.S. – the earned income credit, estate & gift tax, and property tax.]