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409 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. viii (1973)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0409 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE Earnings discrepancies vex our society. The main bout involves income shares. Surfacing in many forms and wearing countless disguises, the elements of the conflict are often obscured. Dissents, defined superficially in other terms, are never far from absolute, and relative, income underpinnings. A century ago, Karl Marx conjectured that the imbalance between workers and capitalists would usher in the revolution. Poverty of the work force would sound the death knell for private property. While he erred in predicting chronic grief for labor, even in our quasi-affluent age the distributive unevenness remains critical, affecting our politics, economic policy and social structure. The ubiquity of the income confrontation can be illustrated in a variety of con- texts. Unemployment: the jobless want income, work and enjoyment of the fruits of their participation in production; they wish to relieve the frustration of idleness with the dignity of employment. Inflation: the distortion in income status, as various earnings lag behind prices, is a festering sore creating public unrest. Farm and food prices: farmers want higher prices, while consumers insist on lower sums -a classic pocketbook battle. Rent control: tenants and landlords are locked in an adversary contest over income benefits. Racism: jobs, especially better jobs, constitute a vital ingredient in the Black protest; the income dimension is over- whelming. Welfare: recipients clamor for more generous pay-outs; taxpayers usually reject the demands. Women's liberation: income subordination and pay discrimination are prominent factors in the movement. Taxes: the perennial con- troversy over footing the bill establishes the proposition that the best tax is one on somebody else. Devaluation: irreparable losses have been inflicted on everyone contemplating foreign travel or purchasing imported wares. The list can be lengthened indefinitely. Alarm at Senator McGovern's inten- tion to alter relative incomes undoubtedly aborted his election chances in 1972. The Nixon victory was interpreted as a mandate to preserve the income status quo. Even crime in the streets contains an income aspect; behind the menace to civilized living, the violence entails a wealth transfer from the law-abiding to the lawless. In opening up their pages to the inequality theme, the editors of THE ANNALS invited a lively intellectual and practical controversy on an emotionally charged subject on which predilections often determine the viewpoint. In subsequent pages, eighteen experienced and distinguished economists have prepared essays that illuminate the complex ramifications of the issue. With two exceptions, the contributors were entirely free to explore the subject in their own way. Neither topics nor facets of the main theme were assigned. Considering the competence and eminence of the authors, it was surmised that whatever they chose to emphasize would be significant, revealing a consensus or a diversity of opinion in small, or large, respects. Furthermore, it was expected that the aspects to which the authors addressed themselves would yield substantial clues to the ultimate controversial battleground. Validation of this purpose has been abundantly realized. viii

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