Inequality and the 1%

By Danny Dorling

Can we afford the rich? Why the growth of the wealthy is making the UK a more dangerous place to live.

Since the great recession hit in 2008, the 1% has only grown richer while the rest find life increasingly tough. The gap between the haves and the have-nots has turned into a chasm. While the rich have found new ways of protecting their wealth, everyone else has suffered the penalties of austerity. But inequality is more than just economics. Being born outside the 1% has a dramatic impact on a person's potential: reducing life expectancy, limiting education and work prospects, and even affecting mental health. What is to be done? In Inequality and the 1% leading social thinker Danny Dorling lays bare the extent and true cost of the division in our society and asks what have the superrich ever done for us. He shows that inquality is the greatest threat we face and why we must urgently redress the balance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verso
• Release date: Sep 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781689943

Danny Dorling

Danny Dorling is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford, an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences and a former Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers. His books include, most recently, Do We Need Economic Inequality? (2018) and Slowdown (2020).

Reviews for Inequality and the 1%

[the7ken7petersen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is easy to write a rant about inequality: even I could probably manage that. What is much more tricky, is to write a book that patiently explains the reasons for, the effects of and the possible solutions for income inequality. Danny Dorling manages the latter.The major economic countries have been in a state of 'Austerity' since the banking crisis of 2008. Western governments have bailed out the rich, by hitting the poor and blaming minorities. Dorling patiently explains this, gives cogent argument as to why this has worked and shown the cracks that have appeared in the pretence that the suffering of the less wealthy is the only solution.I see that some reviewers have been less generous with their rating and, frankly, this amazes me. I presume them not to be the elite 1% and can see no reason for anyone else to dispute, or dislike the conclusions drawn. I am getting tired of being assailed by open racists, who have no understanding of the reasons for austerity and jump on the proffered bandwagon which blames immigration for all our woes.This book is a must read for anyone with an iota of belief that the right wing "There is no such thing as society" view is questionable.

[infjsarah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book has enough facts to make you angry (unless you are a billionaire). Sometimes though there are too many statistics and the point is lost.And although Danny Dorling is obviously passionate about this, somehow the passion isn't conveyed in his writing. Can't see this book leading the revolution - just making us all depressed that democracy now belongs to the mega-rich - who very cleverly have us fighting each other rather than them.