In some periods, productivity and wages grew together whereas, in others, wage growth lagged behind rising productivity and wage dispersion increased.

By and large, technology is in the driver’s seat of what is essentially a story of supply and demand shaping incomes from labour and thus income inequality. In my commentary, I want to broaden this perspective in two ways: by expanding it over the very long run of history and, above all, by considering the role of other determinants of the distribution of material resources.

Cite this as:

Scheidel, W.(2021), ‘Beyond technology and wages: power and the history of inequality’, IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/beyond-technology-and-wages