Book Review: The Spirit Level

The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better

Authors:
R Wilkinson & K Pickett

Publisher:
Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books (2009), 331 pages

The central message of The Spirit Level is that (at least amongst the world’s developed economies) the more egalitarian societies (like Norway and Japan, for instance) appear to function much better than more unequal societies (like the US and the UK, for example) – and that the greater inequality within them causes societies to perform more poorly.

According to Wilkinson and Pickett, growing inequality has broken not only the world economy, but also the social fabric of so many of the ‘developed’ states. The authors conclude that macro-economic growth in those societies is no longer a significant driver of improvements in the well-being of its individual members; ironically even the opposite may be true. It is not differences in average incomes between nations, but within societies that is the underlying cause of a whole range of such social ills as mental illness, drug abuse, failing health care, teenage pregnancies, obesity and crime.

Reducing inequality in developed societies, it would seem, may be the best way of improving the quality of life of every member of those societies.

This may sound uncomfortably familiar and smacks of a political doctrine that may have been largely discredited (even if it does refuse to die gracefully). It may also cause a certain level of discomfort amongst dogmatic free-marketeers and liberals. But, the evidence presented by the authors is intriguing at the very least, if not compelling.

For the purposes of this review, however, what is even more interesting, are the implications of the idea for the design of organisational structures in a corporate environment. It gives a whole new meaning to the concepts of employee empowerment and employee wellness – with the concomitant potential impact on improved motivation and increased productivity.

One study has shown, for instance, that amongst 1 600 players in 29 teams over a nine year period, US major league baseball teams with smaller income differences among players have performed significantly better than those with more unequal income distributions.

Now there is an interesting suggestion (emanating from the US, and a study of social indicators in the developed world, no less) of why truly broad-based black economic empowerment, properly applied, could potentially be a powerful driver of productivity. It is certainly a worthwhile idea to consider and investigate further.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Divided opinion (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Baltimore Infill Survey Brings Wealth of Ideas for Impoverished Neighborhoods (takepart.com)