Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-307) and index.

The physics and ethics of inequality -- The need for new inequality measures -- Pay inequality and world development -- Estimating the inequality of household incomes -- Economic inequality and political regimes -- The geography of inequality in America, 1969 to 2007 -- State-level income inequality and American elections -- Inequality and unemployment in Europe : a question of levels -- European wages and the flexibility thesis -- Globalization and inequality in China -- Finance and power in Argentina and Brazil -- Inequality in Cuba after the Soviet collapse -- Economic inequality and the world crisis.