Originally published in the Australian Financial Review on 26 July 2011

In 1978, US economist Henry Aaron described the study of inequality as being like ‘watching the grass grow’. After becoming more equal in the immediate post-war era, inequality in most English-speaking countries had flatlined for decades.

But alas for Aarons, the grass started shooting up as soon as he spoke. Inequality in developed nations has surged over the past generation, with computerisation and deunionisation among the key drivers.

Today, something new is going on. With commodity prices nearly 4 times higher than they were a decade ago, the proverbial pet-shop galah can recite the positive impact of the mining boom on the overall economy. Yet few have stopped to consider the impact of the mining boom on Australian inequality...?

http://www.alp.org.au/blogs/alp-blog/july-2011/mine-the-gap/