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Inequality in turbulent times: income distribution in Germany and Britain, 1900–50
Author(s) -
Gómez León María,
De Jong Herman J.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/ehr.12770
Subject(s) - inequality , economic inequality , great depression , social inequality , demographic economics , world war ii , income distribution , economics , depression (economics) , economic history , development economics , political science , keynesian economics , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Using social tables, this article provides new data on inequality in Germany and Britain on an annual basis for the first half of the twentieth century. Inequality trends in these two countries tended to follow opposite patterns. The decline in inequality in Germany was interrupted during the First World War and the Nazi period, while in Britain the reversal took place between the end of the First World War and the Great Depression. Results show that the drop in inequality during the twentieth century in Europe did not follow secular trends, thus supporting the notion of inequality cycles.