Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/31645 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 568
Publisher: 
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Abstract: 
Over the last two decades, those at the bottom of the income scale have seen their incomes stagnate, while those at the top have seen theirs skyrocket. Without intervention, the recession that began in December 2007 was likely to exacerbate this trend. Will the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) be able to keep the situation from getting worse for those at the bottom of the income scale? Will ARRA reverse the upward trend in inequality that we have seen in the recent past? We employ a microsimulation of ARRA to address these questions. We find that, despite a large amount of job creation, ARRA is likely to have little impact on overall income inequality, or on the income gaps between relatively advantaged and disadvantaged groups.
Subjects: 
Income distribution
inequality
job creation
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
policy impacts
JEL: 
D31
D63
E62
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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