Measuring Inequality

Whether a resource -- such as income -- is distributed evenly among members of a population is often an important political or economic question. The Occupy Movement has recently drawn more attention to the fact that income inequality in the United States is increasing. How can we measure this inequality? How can we decide whether the distribution of wealth in this country is becoming more or less equitable over time? How can we decide which country has the most equitable income distribution? This talk describes one tool, the Gini index, used to answer these questions. Aimed at students, will use integral calculus. Karen is principal investigator on the NSF-funded Common Vision project, an initiative aimed at improving undergraduate learning in the mathematical sciences, especially in courses typically taken in the first two years. At the end of her talk, she will briefly describe the project. She will be happy to answer questions about the talk, Common Vision or both!