Does income inequality make us sick?

Does income inequality make the U.S., and the world, sick?   As a disparities researcher, I recognize the ecological association between income inequality, poor health and increased mortality.  Indeed, the U.S. is at the very top of this “slope of shame” where the more unequal an economy, the lower the life expectancy.  But like most economists, I view the association as messy. The messiness comes from three factors. First, it may not be income inequality eroding health, but other “culprits” that co-exist in unequal economies – notably discrimination and the unkind and unequal treatment of populations marginalized by race, class, gender and sexual orientation.  Second, some argue that economic growth cannot happen without income inequality—though the International Monetary Fund recently refuted this.  Third, the direction between health and income inequality goes both ways—income inequality may make us sick, but a healthy population could make economies more equal.  The good news is that we can capitalize on this “messiness,” and lift up out of this impasse.   Towards this goal, I will present cross-country examples in wage/tax policies, and social investments that reduce income inequality.   By varying levels of income inequality, I will depict scenarios in 2030 on how healthy the US would be given the emerging “majority minority” face of America.    I hope to animate and enumerate ways in how social movements that champion the elimination of health disparities across several marginalized populations, can collectively shift local, national and global policies towards redistributive economic justice, and population health improvement.