I illustrate my theoretical argument through two case studies of Cameroon and the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). I show that Ahmadou Ahidjo, the first president of Cameroon, came into power weak, therefore institutionalized his regime in order to buy the support of other elites. This was ultimately stabilizing for Cameroon. By comparison, Felix Houphouet Boigny, the first president of the Ivory Coast, came into power strong and did not institutionalize his regime. This was ultimately destabilizing for the Ivory Coast, and the regime fell soon after his death.

Chapter 6 presents simulation results from a simple, demand-driven economic growth and distribution model based on the numbers we have discussed. This chapter provides background for the simulations. It first takes up proposed institutional explanations for increasing income inequality, with regard to labor market power, then forces supporting high profits and wealth, and implications of duality. The second part of the chapter summarizes aspects of demand-driven macroeconomics as it is influenced by distribution. Relevant algebra is presented in the Appendix.

This chapter concludes by summarizing the main findings of the book and offering some thoughts on the findings on future studies of democratic erosion and institutional design.

Economic inequality in the United States began an upward march around 1970. As of 2019, the pace may have slowed but any changes were far from reversing almost five decades of distributional deterioration. Inequality’s ascent can be tracked from two angles – income and wealth. This chapter will look at rising income disparity across households. Chapter 2 shows how income differences showed up macroeconomically. Chapter 3 addresses the distribution of wealth at the macroeconomic and household levels, and Chapter 4 examines the sectoral structure of production.

“What news on the Rialto?” For the financial players of the Merchant of Venice, the shipping news was about gains and losses in the accounts of the parties concerned (pounds of flesh excluded). Double-entry bookkeeping to track market transactions was standard Venetian practice long before Shakespeare had Salanio and Salarino discussing nautical finance in Act One. Centuries later, double entries were extended to national income by John Maynard Keynes (1940) in his pamphlet on How to Pay for the War.

Capital theory is a small, recondite branch of economics but it can erupt into furious debate about the control of income and wealth. US distributive conflict has brought ancient academic battles to the fore. Capital theory helps shed light on the numbers but it will take some effort to grasp the details. One way to analyze distribution is in terms of the size of households’ incomes or holdings of wealth. Alternatively, macroeconomic growth and capital theories analyze the nature or function of payments flows, assets, and liabilities.

This chapter analyzes changes in the structure of production, based on Karl Polanyi’s ideas and insights by Arthur Lewis and a host of development economists. They postulated a natural transition of employment from a low-wage, low-productivity stagnant or subsistence zone to higher productivity industries or sectors, especially manufacturing. In fact, over twenty-five years this sort of transition has been running in reverse in the American economy.