The Inequality Puzzle

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. INTRODUCTION

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Is There Too Much Inequality?

      • David B. Grusky, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 3-10

3. INTERVIEWS

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

      PDF

   2. Josef Ackermann

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 13-20

   3. Bertrand Collomb

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 21-37

   4. Gabriele Galateri di Genola

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 39-47

   5. Jürgen Hambrecht

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 49-57

   6. Maurice Lévy

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 59-68

   7. John Monks

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 69-78

   8. Sir Mark Moody-Stuart

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 79-92

   9. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen

      • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 93-102

   10. Fred Smith

       • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

       Pages 103-115

   11. John Sweeney

       • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

       Pages 117-123

   12. William Weld

       • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

       Pages 125-131

   13. James Wolfensohn

       • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

       Pages 133-144

   14. Jerry Yang

       • Roland Berger, David Grusky, Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels, Christopher Wimer

       Pages 145-152

4. SUMMARY

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

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   2. Trends and Topics from the Interviews

      • Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels

      Pages 155-176

   3. A View from the Top

      • David B. Grusky, Christopher Wimer

      Pages 177-189

Is there too much inequality? We are witnessing for the first time in many decades a vigorous public debate in the United States and many European countries as to whether income inequality is approaching unjustifiable levels. The financial crisis has drawn special attention to remuneration at financial firms, as well as other more broadly based increases in inequality, and the pendulum may well have swung back toward attitudes favoring strengthened regulations. It is against this background of shifting public and political views about income inequality that the Roland Berger Foundation decided to solicit the opinions of U. S. and European political, business, and labor leaders by partnering with the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. This initiative, led by a diverse team of five authors, sought to cast light on how prominent European and U. S. leaders are making sense of rising inequality. The objective was not to provide yet another scholarly tome on inequality, or another analysis of how the general public views inequality. We are already awash in such analyses. What we don’t know, and what we have sought to offer, is a window into how senior leaders view this historic moment. In the summer of 2009, we interviewed thirteen political, business, and labor leaders and presented these interviews in their original form.

• European Union (EU)
• Income
• Income inequality
• Leaders
• Recommendations

• Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH, Munich, Germany

  Roland Berger

• , Sociology, Standford University, Stanford, USA

  David Grusky

• Berlin, Germany

  Tobias Raffel, Geoffrey Samuels

• , Institute for Research in the Social Sci, Stanford University, Stanford, USA

  Chris Wimer

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