The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die

  1. Home
  2. All Books
  3. The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die

Book details

AuthorPayne, Keith
PublisherPenguin Books
Bindingpaperback
PublishedMay 1, 2018
EditionReprint
LanguageEnglish
Pages256
ISBN-100143128906
ISBN-139780143128908
Weight0.49 lb
Dimensions
H × W × L		 0.79 in × 5.59 in × 8.27 in

The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die

$7.24 $18.00
Availability:
In stock
SKU:
0143128906-4
Condition
Condition notes

Used book in good condition. Pages and cover are intact, with signs of use. Notes or highlighting are possible. CDs and access codes may be missing.

About this book

"A persuasive and highly readable account." —President Barack Obama “Brilliant. . . . an important, fascinating read arguing that inequality creates a public health crisis in America.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times “The Broken Ladder is an important, timely, and beautifully written account of how inequality affects us all.” —Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink A timely examination by a leading scientist of the physical, psychological, and moral effects of inequality.  The levels of inequality in the world today are on...

Read the full description "A persuasive and highly readable account." —President Barack Obama
“Brilliant. . . . an important, fascinating read arguing that inequality creates a public health crisis in America.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
“The Broken Ladder is an important, timely, and beautifully written account of how inequality affects us all.” —Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink
A timely examination by a leading scientist of the physical, psychological, and moral effects of inequality. 

The levels of inequality in the world today are on a scale that have not been seen in our lifetimes, yet the disparity between rich and poor has ramifications that extend far beyond mere financial means. In The Broken Ladder psychologist Keith Payne examines how inequality divides us not just economically; it also has profound consequences for how we think, how we respond to stress, how our immune systems function, and even how we view moral concepts such as justice and fairness.
Research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics has not only revealed important new insights into how inequality changes people in predictable ways but also provided a corrective to the flawed view of poverty as being the result of individual character failings. Among modern developed societies, inequality is not primarily a matter of the actual amount of money people have. It is, rather, people's sense of where they stand in relation to others. Feeling poor matters—not just being poor. Regardless of their average incomes, countries or states with greater levels of income inequality have much higher rates of all the social maladies we associate with poverty, including lower than average life expectancies, serious health problems, mental illness, and crime.
 
The Broken Ladder explores such issues as why women in poor societies often have more children, and why they have them at a younger age; why there is little trust among the working class in the prudence of investing for the future; why people's perception of their social status affects their political beliefs and leads to greater political divisions; how poverty raises stress levels as effectively as actual physical threats; how inequality in the workplace affects performance; and why unequal societies tend to become more religious. Understanding how inequality shapes our world can help us better understand what drives ideological divides, why high inequality makes the middle class feel left behind, and how to disconnect from the endless treadmill of social comparison.
Browse related categories
Product type:
Book
Publisher
Penguin Books
Collections:
All Books, Behavioral Sciences, Best Sellers, Business & Money, Class, Economics, General, Health, Fitness & Dieting, Medical Books, On Sale
Tags:
Behavioral Sciences, Class, Economics, General, Income Inequality, Reference
Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the 'Complete Orders' link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.