Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Great Polarization brings together scholars from disparate fields to examine the causes and consequences of this dramatic rise in inequality. Contributors demonstrate that institutions, norms, policy, and political power―not the “natural” operation of the market―determine the distribution of wealth and income. The book underscores the role of ideas and ideologies, showing how neoclassical economics and related beliefs have functioned in public debates to justify inequality. Together, these essays bear out an inescapable conclusion: inequality is a choice. The rules of the economy have been rewritten to favor those at the top, entrenching the imbalances of power that widen the gap between the very rich and everyone else