How Big of a Deal is Income Inequality?

This is article is from Stephen Dubner, one of the co-authors of Freakonomics, New York Times Blog.  The article is by a guest author, William Bernstein.  Bernstein provides a neurologists perspective on the significance of income inequality.

Bernstein first addresses the progression of material improvement.  He argues that for most human history the average person never improved their material income.  About two hundred years ago, the shift began and humans began to improve their material well being by about 2% each year.  In the article, Bernstein discusses the psychological affects of the shift specifically in regards to the importance of private property to the individual human being.

The article mainly addresses the importance of private property and income to the individual.  Bernstein identifies obesity and homicide rates to poverty, which he claims is a direct result of income inequality.