23 Quotes by Keith Payne

Inequality makes people feel poor and act poor, even when they're not.

...high inequality is associated with higher rates of crime, greater risk of stress-related illness, and greater political polarization.

Just as people often confused inequality with poverty, they often confuse the goal of reducing inequality with the goal of fostering economic growth. But the findings on the critical role played by inequality itself - on health, decision making, political and social divisions - argue that economic growth by itself is not sufficient.

In every country tested, respondents dramatically underestimated the degree of actual pay inequity. In the United States, for example, people estimated that CEOs earned about 30 times the average worker. In reality, the researchers point out, the average CEO earned $12.3 million in 2012. That is about 350 times the average worker’s income of $35,000.

Inequality makes people feel poor and act poor, even when they’re not.

Because we habitually make social comparisons to the people we encounter in everyday contexts, another way to manage the effects of inequality is to change those contexts. So in addition to changing your comparisons, you can choose your situations wisely.

To believe in a conspiracy, you trade a bit of your belief that the world is good, fair, and just in exchange for the conviction that at least someone – anyone – has everything under control.

I believe we have to view inequality as a public health problem.

The best predictor of wanting to slash funding for welfare recipients is racial prejudice.