Battlers and Billionaires

<h2><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Unpacking inequality in Australia by renowned economist and MP Andrew Leigh</span></h2><p><br></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Is Australia fair enough? And why does inequality matter anyway?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>After a long period of high inequality from English settlement to World War I inequality in Australia fell for about half a century. In the past generation the gap between rich and poor has widened again. The top twenty Australians now have twice as much wealth as the bottom two million households. The typical house cost four years' average earnings in the 1980s but eleven years' average earnings in the early 2020s.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>In this updated edition of </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Battlers and Billionaires</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)> Andrew Leigh tells you everything you need to know about trends in Australian inequality and explains why inequality matters. Too much inequality risks cleaving us into two Australias with little contact between the haves and the have-nots. And the further apart the rungs on the ladder of opportunity the harder it is for a child born into poverty to enter the middle class. </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Battlers and Billionaires </em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>sheds fresh light on what makes Australia distinctive and what it means to have - and keep - a fair go.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>'Fun fascinating and fundamentally important. A must-read for anyone who cares about bridging our divides.' -</span><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Julia Gillard</strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>'Be warned: this book will open your eyes and prick your conscience.' -</span><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Ross Gittins</strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>'A thought-provoking book which emphasises how far we have strayed from confidently discussing public policies that seek to give meaning to our egalitarian spirit.' -</span><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(51 51 51 1)>Laura Tingle</strong></p>