Recent discussion of convergence in the European Union has focused on macroeconomic indicators, in line with requirements for participation in the single currency. But it is reduction of disparities in living standards that is an ultimate goal of European integration--the greater "economic and...

The existence of income mobility may moderate concerns about growing inequalities, especially if income mobility has increased. However, the evidence for rising mobility is equivocal and its extent is not enough to offset the growth of cross-sectional inequality. There is a case for greater...