Economics
The Relationship Between Economic Inequality and Political Instability
Quick fact
A widely cited study found that countries with high economic inequality are significantly more likely to experience civil conflict and political violence. Even after controlling for poverty and regime type, the risk of civil war roughly doubles when inequality is extreme, because inequality erodes the social contract that keeps societies peaceful.
Why this is interesting
Most of us sense that a huge gap between rich and poor feels unfair—but could that inequality actually topple governments or spark revolutions? Throughout history, many of the most violent upheavals have erupted not when everyone was poor, but when wealth concentrated in a few hands.