The Evolution and Determinants of Wealth Inequality in the North Atlantic Anglo-Sphere, 1668–2013 (eBook)

This book focuses on wealth inequality trends in the North Atlantic Anglo-sphere countries of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the period from 1668 to 2013: a wider perspective than generally used when wealth inequality is discussed. This book demonstrates that it is important to put current dimensions of wealth inequality into historical context by looking at performance over the long run rather than simply a few decades. Moreover, this contribution compiles a substantial amount of data on estimates of wealth inequality and provides a concise overview of trends as well as the drivers of inequality over the long term. It serves as a short supplementary text for economics and sociology courses on economic inequality, economic history and social change-while remaining of interest to scholars and policymakers invested in equality debates of the past and present. 

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada, where he has served since 1990. His historical wealth research using census-linked probate records was funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His health economics research explores the determinants of health expenditures, the public-private split in health spending, and the sustainability of provincial government health spending. He is a member of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) National Health Expenditure Advisory Panel and the Evidence Network; a contributor to the economics blog Worthwhile Canadian Initiative; a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute; and he is on the advisory boards of the Northern Policy Institute and the Canadian Health Policy Institute.