Fruit and vegetable merchant in the street. Bangkok. Thailand.

What is Driving Wealth Inequality in the United States of America? The Role of Productivity, Taxation and Skills

Ended
Geneva
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This session explores the key factors driving wealth inequality in the United States. It examines how disparities in educational attainment between skilled and unskilled workers, coupled with productivity differences across firms, contribute to growing wealth gaps. By focusing on structural changes such as the increasing share of skilled workers, skill-biased technological advancements, decreasing progressiveness of taxation, and productivity slowdown, the webinar highlights the decline in productivity growth as the primary driver of both within-group and between-group inequalities. This session provides a deeper understanding of these dynamics and their implications for economic equity.

Speakers

Photo of Rossana Merola
Rossana Merola
Macroeconomist, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Photo of Ekkehard Ernst
Ekkehard Ernst
Chief of the Macroeconomic Policies and Jobs Unit, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Photo of François Langot
François Langot
Professor of Economics, Le Mans Université Paris School of Economics
Photo of Fabien Tripier
Fabien Tripier
Professor of Economics, Université Paris Dauphine
Photo of Olga Solleder
Olga Solleder
Economic Affairs Officer, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)