It was part of common wisdom that in the early stages of development inequality would rise, but it would, eventually, decline. As time passed and growth persisted, inequality has, however, continued to grow, casting doubt on the received wisdom.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University and the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics. He served on President Clinton's economic team as a member and then Chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors in the mid-1990s. He then joined the World Bank as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President.

Kaushik Basu is the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank currently on leave from Cornell where he is Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies. Previously he served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.

Introduction: Inequality and Growth: A Preamble; Kaushik Basu, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Vivian Hon1. The Inheritance of Employers and Nonlinearities in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility; Miles Corak and Patrizio PirainoTowards Understanding Intergenerational Persistence, Slowly: Comments on 'The Inheritance of Employers and Nonlinearities in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility'; Francisco Ferreira2. Do Nations Just Get the Inequality They Deserve? The 'Palma Ratio' Reexamined; José Gabriel PalmaMeasuring Income Inequality: Comments on 'Do Nations Just Get the Inequality They Deserve? The 'Palma Ratio' Reexamined'; Joseph E. Stiglitz3. The University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP) Global Inequality Data Sets 1963-2008: Updates, Revisions and Quality Checks; James K. Galbraith, Beatrice Halbach, Aleksandra Malinowska, Amin Shams and Wenjie ZhangMeasuring Global Inequality: Comments on 'The University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP) Global Inequality Data Sets 1963-2008'; Edward N. Wolff4. Inequality and the Fragility of Growth; Jonathan D. OstryComments on 'Redistribution, Inequality and Growth'; Francois Bourguignon5. Does Wealth Distribution and the Source of Wealth Matter for Economic Growth? Inherited v. Uninherited Billionaire Wealth and Billionaires Political Connections; Sutirtha Bagchi and Jan SvejnarA Sociological Perspective on Wealth Inequality and Opportunity: Comments on 'Does Wealth Distribution and the Source of Wealth Matter for Economic Growth? Inherited v. Uninherited Billionaire Wealth and Billionaires Political Connections'; Kendra Bischoff6. Inequality in Arab Countries; Radwan A. ShabanResolving the Arab-Spring Paradox: Comments on 'Inequality in Arab Countries'; Shantayanan Devarajan7. Deconstructing the Decline in Inequality in Latin America; Nora Lustig, Luis F. Lopez-Calva and Eduardo Ortiz JuarezA Macroeconomic Accounting Note to Pope Francis: Comments on 'Deconstructing the Decline in Inequality in Latin America'; Celestin Monga8. Caste Discrimination in Contemporary India; Ashwini DeshpandeReflections on Caste and Integrroup Disparity: Comments on 'Caste Discrimination in Contemporary India'; William A. Darity, Jr.