The idea that the benefits of economic growth have accrued primarily to the rich is an important part of the conventional wisdom, and it is supported by official income statistics. I would argue that technological change and economic growth over the last several decades (or centuries) has made us more equal, not less. Here are two ways we are more equal: 1. Communication technology. 2. Access to information.
If you can get to a computer with an internet connection, you have the world’s knowledge at your fingertips. The difference between a Harvard blue-blood of the 1950s or 1960s and someone growing up in the inner city was enormous. The difference between a Harvard blue-blood of the early twenty-first century and someone growing up in the inner city is much smaller if the inner-city youth has access to the internet.
