Kuznets: Economic Growth and Income Inequality (1955)
The Point: This paper from 1955 his of historical importance in the study of inequality. Looking at annual income levels over the course of roughly 50-75 years Kuznets finds that beginning in as early as the nineteen-twenties, the inequality of income distribution in the UK, US, and Germany narrowed rather than widened. In 2011, this paper was selected as one of the American Economic Review's 20 most influential papers of all time. The Quote: "This paper is perhaps 4 per cent
