Income Inequality and Living standards: Changes in the 1970s and 1980s

<p>Given the last two decades' changes in the income distribution, is society as a whole now better off or worse off? This is an important question, but it is not immediately obvious that there is a straightforward and clear-cut answer to it. If inequality has increased (the Kinnock view), and yet real incomes have also increased (the Thatcher one), surely an answer will depend on which aspect one views as the most important.</p>