The root cause to most problems?

Inequality is the root cause to almost all common social problems in the developed countries. That is the message in a new book: The Spirit Level – Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better (Allen Lane 2009). The authors, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, claim that countries with less inequality, such as Sweden, also have less social problems than more unequal societies such as United States or United Kingdom.

Wilkinson and Pickett also claim that it’s not only the poor within a society that suffer from those problems but also the well-to-do. Those with higher incomes in more equal societies have for example a longer life expectancy than similar people in more unequal countries. Conclusion: inequality seems to have a direct negative impact on all groups in a society.

I will probably have reason to write more about this book later, but here are two links to try out:
– Equality Trust
– The Guardian