The Broken Ladder

Psychologist Keith Payne argues that inequality divides people in more than money: it shapes how they think, how they react to stress, how their immune systems work and how they judge justice and fairness. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and behavioral economics, he challenges the view that poverty is a result of personal failings. In developed societies, Payne contends, inequality is less about how much money people have than about their sense of where they stand compared with others; feeling poor matters, not only being poor. Places with wider income gaps suffer more of the ills linked to poverty, from shorter lives and poor health to mental illness and crime. He also examines how perceived status sharpens political divisions.

It appeared on the best of 2018 list Barack Obama shared on Facebook.