In the past few years, income and wealth have become more unequally distributed in the United States, which has made them important topics in policy debates. But what are American’s perceptions of current wealth distribution and what do they believe is the ideal distribution?
Recently, a Harvard professor Michael Norton did just that. He polled 5,000 Americans and found that they perceived wealth to be distributed much more equally than is the case. For example, respondents believed that the top 20 percent held 60 percent of the wealth while, in fact, they held 80 percent. Norton also asked about the ideal distribution. Respondents believed that in an ideal world, the top 20 percent should hold 30 percent of the wealth. You might poll your students for their opinions.
You can show this Youtube video for visual presentation of Norton’s work. The Harvard Business Review also published an article about Norton’s work. Note that along with the data, the narrator of the Youtube video expresses strong normative views about wealth distribution. The data along with the normative discussion could be used to launch a class discussion about fairness.
First Published : March 24, 2013