Origins of Inequality

Per Molander holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics (control theory) but has spent most of his professional life at the interface between the social sciences and public policy-making. He has published around 100 articles, reports and books, among which Turning Sweden Around (MIT Press); Institutions, Politics and Fiscal Policy (Kluwer); Fiscal Federalism in Unitary States (Kluwer); Alternatives for Welfare Policy (Cambridge University Press) (all these co-authored), and The Anatomy of Inequality (Melville House/ Random House). He was the main architect of the Swedish central government budget reform of the 1990s and created the Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, where he served as the director general between 2009 and 2015. He chaired the Public Commission on Equality that delivered its report in 2020. He has also worked as an adviser to the IMF, the World Bank, and the OECD. He has received several literary prizes, among which is the Essay Prize from the Swedish Academy. Dr. Molander is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

• Introduction.- Preliminaries.- Life-cycle development.- Interaction within and between groups.- Spatial inequality.- Static versus dynamic inequality – mathematical analysis.- Philosophical and political considerations.- Conclusions.

“The Origins of Inequality. Mechanisms, Models, Policy is a thoughtful and thought-provoking survey of studies on the causes, conditions and factors associated with inequality. Viewed as a survey it is quite comprehensive and suitable for independent study as well as for classroom use. … Molander aims at — and to a large extent succeeds in — making sense of the processes that result in inequalities. … Molander makes a strong case to the contrary. The case is well worth studying in detail.” (Hannu Nurmi, The Journal of Economic Inequality, Vol. 20, 2022)