We all know that conservatives don't worry about equality of outcomes; they care about equality of opportunity. Actually, they don't care about outcomes at all; they only care about establishing rules of the game. That's a values question, that's conservatives moral bent, although personally I think they're wrong. We'll never agree.
However, what Bernstein's and other economists' research is showing us is that growing income equality actually diminishes equality of opportunity. Bernstein talks about it here, here, here, here. This should worry conservatives. The economic playing field will never be level; but we should be concerned when it's getting more unbalanced every year.
In addition, Bernstein plans to prove that income inequality leads to lower economic growth. That should concern us all, including deficit hawks who want to shore up our federal deficit.
By Jared Bernstein
June 26, 2013 | Huffington Post
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