Lane Kenworthy
Professor of Sociology and Political Science
University of Arizona
lane.kenworthy@gmail.com
Articles, chapters, and short pieces
Discussions, interviews, talks, TV, radio
Articles, chapters, and
short pieces
To go to a specific category, scroll down or click on one of the links at left.
"Five myths about the middle class"
Washington Post, 2012.08.03
"Wage stagnation isn't due to a compositional shift"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.07.30
"America's Struggling Lower Half"
Roosevelt Institute, June 2012
"Is decoupling real?"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.03.11
"Should income growth over the life course lessen concern about the great decoupling?"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.03.01
"Winner-take-all financial incentives, Steve Jobs, and the living standards of ordinary Americans"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.12.03
"When does economic growth benefit people on low to middle incomes - and why?"
Commission on Living Standards, Resolution Foundation, November 2011
"To boost incomes, Uncle Sam should lend a hand"
Christian Science Monitor, 2011.10.04
"America's inefficient health-care system: another look"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.07.10
"Low-wage jobs and no wage growth: Is there a way out?"
New America Foundation Decent Jobs Forum, June 2011
"The great decoupling"
Review of The Great Stagnation, by Tyler Cowen
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.31
"Can we get to below-4% unemployment? Do we need to?"
Boston Review, January-February 2011
"Flourishing in a sea of information"
Review of Create Your Own Economy, by Tyler Cowen
Consider the Evidence, 2009.11.05
"Slow income growth for middle America"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.09.03
"Making ends meet on $300,000 a year"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.06.24
"Measuring living standards: the family road trip"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.06.06
"The cost of rising inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.27
"The left, the right, and income growth"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.17
"Size of the pie, distribution of the pie"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.01.22
"Households running out of wiggle room"
Consider the Evidence, 2007.12.07
Review of Demanding Work: The Paradox of Job Quality in the Affluent Economy, by Francis Green
Contemporary Sociology, September 2007
"How to make sure a growing U.S. economy helps the poor"
Scholars Strategy Network, July 2012
"How rich countries lift up the poor"
Pathways, Fall 2011
"How should we measure the poverty rate?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.08.14
"Relative poverty rates can mislead"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.06.19
"Reducing relative poverty"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.06.05
"Rising Inequality, Public Policy, and America's Poor"
Challenge, 2010
"Has rising inequality been bad for the poor?"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.12.14
"Poverty and immigration in the U.S. and abroad"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.11.29
"When is economic growth good for the poor?"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.11.17
"Social spending and poverty"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.06.07
"Obama's antipoverty agenda"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.09.24
"Has Ireland's rising tide benefited its poor?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.05.18
"Absolute poverty"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.20
"Is poverty highest in the U.S.?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.19
"Measuring Poverty and Material Deprivation"
Statistics Canada, 2007
"Macroeconomic Performance and Poverty in the 1980s and 1990s: A State-Level Analysis"
Institute for Research on Poverty, 2005
with John Iceland and Melissa Scopilliti
"Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment"
Social Forces, 1999
"Is rising obesity a product of income inequaity and economic insecurity?"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.06.10
"Is High Inequality Offset by Mobility?"
with Markus Gangl and Joakim Palme
In progress
"Inequality and mobility at the top"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.03.08
"Is winner-take-all bad or good for the middle class? Evidence from baseball"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.11
"Business Political Activity and the Top-Heavy Rise in Income Inequality: How Large an Impact?"
Politics and Society, 2010
"How Much Do Presidents Influence Income Inequality?"
Challenge, 2010
"Institutions, Wealth, and Inequality"
Oxford Handbook of Comparative Institutional Analysis, 2010
"Has rising inequality been bad for the poor?"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.12.14
Review of The Politics of Income Inequality in the United States, by Nathan Kelly, and Class War? What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality, by Benjamin Page and Lawrence Jacobs
Perspectives on Politics, September 2010
"The best inequality graph, updated"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.07.20
"Inequality as a social cancer"
Review of The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
Consider the Evidence, 2010.01.18
"The High-Employment Route to Low Inequality"
Challenge, 2009
Review of Income Inequality in Capitalist Democracies: The Interplay of Values and Institutions, by Vicki L. Birchfield
Contemporary Sociology, November 2009
"Why oppose an increase in redistribution?"
Cato Online, 2009.10.30
"Real and perceived inequality"
Cato Online, 2009.10.29
"How much should we redistribute? And how?"
Cato Online, 2009.10.23
"Is redistribution the wrong cure?"
Cato Online, 2009.10.21
"Is consumption the grail for inequality skeptics?"
Cato Online, 2009.10.14
"Do schools make inequality worse?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.05.21
"How to pay for inequality reduction: follow-up"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.04.20
"Reducing inequality: how to pay for it"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.18
"Reducing inequality: what to do about the top 1%"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.17
"Reducing inequality: expand and improve public services"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.17
"Reducing inequality: boosting incomes in the bottom half"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.16
"Reducing inequality: put the brakes on globalization?"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.15
"Reducing inequality: education to the rescue?"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.14
"Reducing inequality: are unions the answer?"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.14
"Reducing inequality: what's the problem?"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.13
"Outliers, opportunity, and luck"
Review of Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
Consider the Evidence, 2009.01.11
"Luck vs. effort?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.12.21
"Presidents and income inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.12.09
"Vote Republican if you want equal pay?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.09.13
"Rising inequality hinders upward mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.27
"Is the U.S. a high-inequality country if mobility is taken into account?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.20
"Rising inequality has not been offset by mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.13
"Can mobility offset a rise in inequality?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.06
"Inequality and prices"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.05.20
"Top incomes in the U.S. and abroad"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.05.11
"The cost of rising inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.27
"Tax progressivity and the rise in inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.28
"Do people care about inequality?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.13
"The best inequality graph"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.03.09
"The left, the right, and income growth"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.17
"Income inequality, spending inequality, wealth inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.11
"Taxes and inequality: lessons from abroad"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.10
"Size of the pie, distribution of the pie"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.01.22
"The shrinking gender pay gap"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.01.02
"Inequality and Sociology"
American Behavioral Scientist, 2007
"Does more equality mean less economic growth?"
Consider the Evidence, 2007.12.03
"Is equality feasible?"
Contexts, Summer 2007
"Incarceration and inequality"
Review of Punishment and Inequality in America, by Bruce Western
Socio-Economic Review, July 2007
Review of Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America, by Jonas Pontusson
European Sociological Review, September 2006
"Is rising inequality due to a surge in incomes at the top?"
Challenge, September-October 2004
"Jobs and equality in Germany: which way forward?"
Memo prepared for the Economic Policy unit of the German Ministry of Economics, 2003
"Beyond the 'fiscal cliff,' America's kids need more - not less - government spending"
Christian Science Monitor, 2012.12.11
"It's Hard to Make It in America: How the United States Stopped Being the Land of Opportunity"
Foreign Affairs, November-December 2012
"Inequality, mobility, opportunity"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.01.31
"Inequality and mobility at the top"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.03.08
"Rising inequality hinders upward mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.27
"Is the U.S. a high-inequality country if mobility is taken into account?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.20
"Rising inequality has not been offset by mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.13
"Can mobility offset a rise in inequality?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.06
"Types of mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.07.04
"Promoting mobility"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.24
"Is rising obesity a product of income inequaity and economic insecurity?"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.06.10
"Why the surge in obesity?"
Consider the Evidence, 2012.05.31
"America's inefficient health-care system: another look"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.07.10
"Will everyone be worse off if the United States turns social democratic?"
Review of "Can't We All Be More Like Scandinavians?" by Daron Acemoglu, James Robinson, and Thierry Verdier
Consider the Evidence, 2012.09.29
"The late American jobs machine"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.09.13
"Why do some rich economies grow faster than others?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.04
"Institutions, Wealth, and Inequality"
Oxford Handbook of Comparative Institutional Analysis, 2010
"How does the U.S. labor market compare now?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.05.26
"Are interest groups the source of our economic woes?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.02.02
"Comparative Employment Performance: A Fuzzy-Set Analysis"
with Jessica Epstein, Daniel Duerr, and Charles Ragin
Method and Substance in Macrocomparative Analysis, 2008
"Family Policies and Women's Employment: A Regression Analysis"
with Alexander Hicks
Method and Substance in Macrocomparative Analysis, 2008
"Does more equality mean less economic growth?"
Consider the Evidence, 2007.12.03
Review of Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America, by Jonas Pontusson
European Sociological Review, September 2006
"Germany's Employment Problem in Comparative Perspective"
Transformationen des Kapitalismus: Festschrift für Wolfgang Streeck zum sechzigsten Geburstag, 2006
"Institutional Coherence and Macroeconomic Performance"
Socio-Economic Review, 2006
"Do Affluent Countries Face an Incomes-Jobs Tradeoff?"
Comparative Political Studies, 2003
"Jobs and equality in Germany: which way forward?"
Memo prepared for the Economic Policy unit of the German Ministry of Economics, 2003
"Corporatism and Unemployment in the 1980s and 1990s"
American Sociological Review, 2002
Review of National Labour Relations in Internationalized Markets, by Franz Traxler, Sabine Blaschke, and Bernhard Kittel
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, October 2002
"Social Capital, Cooperation, and Economic Performance"
Beyond Tocqueville: Civil Society and the Social Capital Debate in Comparative Perspective, 2001
Review of Why Deregulate Labour Markets?, edited by Gosta Esping-Andersen and Marino Regini
American Journal of Sociology, November 2001
"Cooperation and Political Economic Performance in Affluent Democratic Capitalism"
with Alexander Hicks
American Journal of Sociology, 1998
"Civic Engagement, Social Capital, and Economic Cooperation"
American Behavioral Scientist, 1997
"Cooperation and economic performance"
Policy Options, October 1997
"Balancing Competition and Cooperation"
Challenge, 1996
"Unions, Wages, and the Common Interest"
Comparative Political Studies, 1996
Review of Restructuring for Innovation: The Remaking of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, by David P. Angel
Contemporary Sociology, July 1996
"Equality and Efficiency: The Illusory Tradeoff"
European Journal of Political Research, 1995
"Labor Organization, Wage Restraint, and Economic Performance"
Review of Radical Political Economics, 1990
Social policy and redistribution
"We're all dependent on government, and it has long been thus"
Review of "A Nation of Takers," by Nicholas Eberstadt
Consider the Evidence, 2012.09.02
"Two and a Half Cheers for Education"
After the Third Way: The Future of Social Democracy in Europe, 2012
"America's inefficient health-care system: another look"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.07.10
"The safety net in the short run and the long run"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.28
"Is America finished with major expansions of the safety net?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.24
"Labor Market Activation"
Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, 2010
"Caring for our kids"
Boston Review, July-August 2010
"Social spending and poverty"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.06.07
"Should progressives oppose the health-care reform bill?"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.01.06
"The Effect of Public Opinion on Social Policy Generosity"
Socio-Economic Review, 2009
"Who Should Care for Under-Threes?"
Gender Equality: Transforming Family Divisions of Labor, 2009
"Why oppose an increase in redistribution?"
Cato Online, 2009.10.30
Review of The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, by Matt Miller
Consider the Evidence, 2009.05.04
"Reducing inequality: expand and improve public services"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.17
"Reducing inequality: boosting incomes in the bottom half"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.16
"Inequality, Public Opinion, and Redistribution"
with Leslie McCall
Socio-Economic Review, 2008
"Obama's antipoverty agenda"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.09.24
"Rising Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution in Affluent Countries"
with Jonas Pontusson
Perspectives on Politics, 2005
"Varieties of Welfare Capitalism"
with Alexander Hicks
Socio-Economic Review, 2003
"Cooperation and Political Economic Performance in Affluent Democratic Capitalism"
with Alexander Hicks
American Journal of Sociology, 1998
"Mitt Romney's peculiar approach to tax fairness"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.08.18
"Were the Bush tax cuts worse for progressivity or for revenues?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.11.02
"Is heavy taxation bad for the economy?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.05.22
"Taxes and work"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.05.09
"Are progressive income taxes fair?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.04.02
"The tax deal"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.12.07
"The conscience of a modern conservative"
Review of The New American Economy, by Bruce Bartlett
Consider the Evidence, 2009.11.12
"Tax myths"
Contexts, Summer 2009
"How to pay for inequality reduction: follow-up"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.04.20
"Reducing inequality: how to pay for it"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.18
"Reducing inequality: what to do about the top 1%"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.17
"How progresive are our taxes? Follow-up"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.01.08
"How progressive are our taxes?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.01.05
"Tax progressivity and the rise in inequality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.28
"Bar tabs and tax cuts"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.03.23
"Taxes and inequality: lessons from abroad"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.10
"The new Laffer curve logic"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.01.27
"Taxes at the top"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.01.14
"To spend is to owe?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.04.18
"Political traps for Keynesians"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.08.16
Review of The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, by Matt Miller
Consider the Evidence, 2009.05.04
"Reducing inequality: put the brakes on globalization?"
Crooked Timber, 2009.04.15
"Why the conversion to Keynes?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.01.18
"A Keynesian free lunch?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.01.14
"Why embrace economic change?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.06
"Embrace economic change"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.03.02
"Are Industrial Policy and Corporatism Compatible?"
Journal of Public Policy, 1990
"Theories and Practices of Neo-Corporatism"
with Wolfgang Streeck
Handbook of Political Sociology, 2005
"Quantitative Indicators of Corporatism"
International Journal of Sociology, 2003
"Indicators of Social Dialogue: Concepts and Measurement"
with Bernhard Kittel
International Labour Organization (ILO), 2002
"Wage-Setting Measures: A Survey and Assessment"
World Politics, 2001
"‘The More Things Change ...’: Business Litigation and Governance in the American Automobile Industry"
with Stewart Macaulay and Joel Rogers
Law and Social Inquiry, 1996
"Economic Integration and Convergence: A Look at the U.S. States"
Social Science Quarterly, 1999
"Globalization and Economic Convergence"
Competition and Change, 1997
"What do we do now?"
Peace Review, Spring 1992
"What Kind of Economic System?"
Socialist Review, 1990
"Is there a viable progressive politics that doesn't hinge on a strong labor movement?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.07.20
"Income Inequality and Partisan Voting in the United States"
with Andrew Gelman and Yu-Sung Su
Social Science Quarterly, 2010
"Why don't low-income whites love the Democrats?"
The Monkey Cage, 2010.12.06
"A new era of Democratic dominance?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.11.16
"More on elections and fundamentals"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.11.11
"Elections, campaigns, and fundamentals"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.11.03
"Get elected. Do something good. Repeat."
Consider the Evidence, 2008.10.22
"Nixonland: one, two, or many Americas?"
Review of Nixonland, by Rick Perlstein
Consider the Evidence, 2008.06.17
"Bread, peace, and the 2008 election"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.02.03
"The Democrats and Working-Class Whites"
with Sondra Barringer, Daniel Duerr, and Garrett Andrew Schneider
Working paper, 2007
"How the Democrats lost their class"
Consider the Evidence, 2007.12.17
"Gender Inequality in Political Representation: A Worldwide Comparative Analysis"
with Melissa Malami
Social Forces, 1999
"The World of Campaign Finance"
with Shaila Lakhani
Center for a New Democracy/Center for Responsive Politics, 1993
"The Surprisingly Weak Effect of Recessions on Public Opinion"
with Lindsay Owens
The Great Recession, 2011
"Americans' Social Policy Preferences in the Era of Rising Inequality"
with Leslie McCall
Perspectives on Politics, 2009
"Inequality, Public Opinion, and Redistribution"
with Leslie McCall
Socio-Economic Review, 2008
"Do people care about inequality?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.04.13
"An agenda for American political economy"
The Monkey Cage, 2010.12.09
Review of Advancing Socio-Economics: An Institutionalist Perspective, edited by J. Rogers Hollingsworth, Karl H. Muller, and Ellen Jane Hollingsworth
Contemporary Sociology, March 2004
"Step Away from the Pool"
Newsletter of the APSA section on Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Fall 2011
"Introduction"
with Alexander Hicks
Method and Substance in Macrocomparative Analysis, 2008
Review of Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, edited by James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschemeyer
Journal of Politics, January 2008
"Toward Improved Use of Regression in Macro-Comparative Analysis"
Comparative Social Research, 2007
"Are Barcelona the best soccer team ever?"
Consider the Evidence, 2011.07.03
"The science of basketball"
Review of The Book of Basketball, by Bill Simmons
Consider the Evidence, 2011.01.06
"A not-so-great day for soccer fans"
Consider the Evidence, 2010.05.31
"Why does England lose?"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.12.27
"Sublime Barça"
Consider the Evidence, 2009.04.26
"Sweden: image and reality"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.05.26
"Stigma's declining half-life?"
Consider the Evidence, 2008.03.30