The Spirit Level
by Richard & Kate Pickett Wilkinson, Illustrated · first published 2009
67% recommend26% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, data-driven case that more equal societies do better on health, crime, education and stress, across rich and poor alike. Suits readers wanting evidence on the effects of income inequality.
Common criticism: Critics dispute its data selection and say some findings fail to replicate
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
It is common knowledge that, in rich societies, the poor have worse health and suffer more from almost every social problem. This book explains why inequality is the most serious problem societies face today.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2013–2024The Price of Inequality
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 96 recommend · 9 mention6 recommend · 96 recommend
2010–2023Wealth and Democracy
Kevin Phillips, Kevin P. Phillips
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2015–2026Elon Musk
Ashlee Vance
Recommended by 34 · mentioned by 7034 recommend · 70 mention34 recommend · 7034 recommend
2009–2026Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
Recommended by 48 · mentioned by 6548 recommend · 65 mention48 recommend · 6548 recommend
Graham leaves out one crucial thing: A more equal society is a better society. Always. This was borne out in the work of Wilkinson and Pickett for their book The Spirit Level. You may have less technology. You may have less innovation. Tough. Creating more of what Earl Dunovant called "cute and useful monkey tricks with energy and matter" at the expense of your fellow man…
on “The Refragmentation” ↗…metric that should be focused on, not inequality No. Inequality is the problem. Poverty has nowhere near the same damaging effect. This book is essential reading on the topic: http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Level-Equality-Societies-Strong... The authors use two test-beds: a comparison of countries around the world and a comparison of states within the US. With these, they show that with overall wealth held constant,…
on “An open letter to Paul Graham” ↗Check out The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger by Richard Wilkinson et al.
…is a consequence of education (for instance, nutrition) or income (mental illness) but all of those are seriously worsened by inequality resulting from our education system. If you're interested, The Spirit Level (http://www.amazon.com/The-Spirit-Level-Equality-Societies/dp...) and Ill Fares the Land (http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Fares-Land-Tony-Judt/dp/0143118765...) both contain great discussions of this.
on “Why It’s Never Mattered That America’s Schools ‘Lag’ Behind Other Countries” ↗There's a similar observation at the book the spirit level,by richard wilkinson who show the link between income inequality and bad results in numerous health and social attributes. And it really moves the political inequality debate to a more scientific field…
on “Biggest Risk Factor for Depression: Low Income” ↗adventured: what you're missing here is that having other people get free education and healthcare is a benefit to you. Lots of evidence to support that, delightfully summarized in "The Spirit Level" by Wilkinson and Pickett, among others.
on “A Visa for founders, engineers and investors willing to join France” ↗Wilkinson & Pickett's The Spirit Level possibly did for laissez-faire economic theory what the Declaration of Independence did for the divine right of kings. It is a statistical fact that people who live in countries which promote greater…
on “We All Work at Enron Now ” ↗The books that touches exactly that ideas are amongst other * "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" - Thomas Piketty * "The Spirit Level" - Wilkinson & Pickett * "The Price of Inequality" - Joseph Stiglitz However, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if none of these authors ring a bell. But is seems like you are perfectly able to…
on “Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals” ↗There's a book I like about inequality called The Spirit Level (Wilkinson and Pickett). It asks how this country can be so incredibly rich, unprecedented in human history, but still create so much physical and mental suffering https://ibb.co/jZs6NhLt
on “The Brand Age” ↗The Spirit Level by Pickett and Wilkinson argues convincingly that the pursuit of equality and social safeguards makes life better for everyone, rich and poor. San Francisco used to be my favorite big city in America;…
on “There's no joy in SV these days, Menlo Ventures partner says” ↗…terms. $20k doesn't mean anything. You may call it envy if that's how you see it -- if you indeed are interesting in learning about the many problems of economic inequality, I recommend the book The Spirit Level (http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resource/the-spirit-level).
on “Fear, senseless violence, and shitty drugs” ↗…no evidence that "equality" in the distribution of wealth is good for middle class and low income persons. There is a vast amount of evidence. For example, much of it is cited in the famous book "The Spirit Level".
on “Top 1% now owns more of the wealth than the remaining 99%” ↗No, not at all. Read The Spirit Level and also a bunch of happiness psychology. Relative equality and perception of fairness matter quite a lot to humans.
on “Just Be Rich” ↗See also the book The Spirit Level, which shows that inequality also negatively affects those who are well-off - they become stressed about their social standing too. This is why naive explanations of inequality that blame the poor or…
on “Reducing inequality can reverse political polarisation: study” ↗The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better It charts a connection between the income gap and everything from crime to illness and under-education. Got it two weeks ago. Blew me away. Easy to read…
on “Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations?” ↗