This exploration of the causes of- and solutions to - rising income inequality in the US and Europe presents interviews with top business executives, politicians and labor leaders from trades unionist John Monks to former World Bank president James Wolfensohn.

Is there too much inequality? We are witnessing for the first time in many decades a vigorous public debate in the United States and many European countries as to whether income inequality is approaching unjustifiable levels. The financial crisis has drawn special attention to remuneration at financial firms, as well as other more broadly based increases in inequality, and the pendulum may well have swung back toward attitudes favoring strengthened regulations. It is against this background of shifting public and political views about income inequality that the Roland Berger Foundation decided to solicit the opinions of U. S. and European political, business, and labor leaders by partnering with the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. This initiative, led by a diverse team of five authors, sought to cast light on how prominent European and U. S. leaders are making sense of rising inequality. The objective was not to provide yet another scholarly tome on inequality,or another analysis of how the general public views inequality. We are already awash in such analyses. What we don't know, and what we have sought to offer, is a window into how senior leaders view this historic moment. In the summer of 2009, we interviewed thirteen political, business, and labor leaders and presented these interviews in their original form.

Interviews with prominent EU and US business, political and labor leaders Expert policy recommendations Comparative analysis Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Prof. Dr. Philip Kotler (M.A., University of Chicago, Ph.D., M.I.T.) is the S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He published his 13th edition of Marketing Management, the world's leading textbook in teaching marketing to MBAs. He has also published Marketing Models, Principles of Marketing, Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations, Social Marketing, Marketing Places, Kotler on Marketing, Marketing Insights A to Z, Lateral Marketing, Museum Strategies and Marketing, Standing Room Only, Corporate Social Responsibility, Chaotics, Up and Out of Poverty, Marketing 3.0 and several other books. His research covers strategic marketing, innovation, consumer marketing, business marketing, services marketing, distribution, e-marketing, and social marketing. He has been a consultant to IBM, Bank of America, Merck, General Electric, Honeywell, and many other companies. He has received 12 honorary doctorate degrees from major universities in the U.S. and abroad. Prof. Dr. h.c. Roland Berger is Honorary Chairman of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has grown to become the number 5 among the world's leading strategy consultancies with 36 offices in 25 countries. Since 1996 he has been a lecturer and since 2000 Honorary Professor of Business Administration and Management Consulting at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of his private Roland Berger Foundation. Roland Berger is a member of various supervisory and advisory boards of national and international companies, foundations and organizations. These include Fiat Group, Turin, Italy; Telecom Italia, Milan, Italy; Fresenius SE (Chairman Audit Committee), Bad Homburg; Prime Office AG, Munich (Chairman). He is also a member of various international advisory boards, including Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, Germany; MillerBuckfire New York, USA; Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, and The Blackstone Group, New York, USA. Prof. Dr. Nils Bickhoff holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in business administration and began his career as a consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in 1995. He advised international clients on matters of strategy, organization, branding, and corporate finance, and was also responsible for Roland Berger's global research & development activities. In 2005 he founded his own company and has since been advising top managers on all issues of strategic management. Nils Bickhoff has authored and published management books in several languages, is editor of the "Quintessence" series, gives lectures and seminars, and is Professor of Strategy and Marketing at the Euro-FH in Hamburg (University of Applied Sciences).

Klappentext
Should we be troubled by rising income inequality? Does the Financial Crisis oblige us to consider how much inequality is desirable? The United States and many European countries have seen shifts in public attitudes toward a widening gap between the rich and poor. Will income inequality return to the political agenda? In thirteen candid interviews, distinguished business, political and labor leaders discuss the "inequality puzzle" and what should be done. "In the current socio-economic environment, there seems to be a broad consensus that the present degree of inequality is too high, less in terms of wealth, than in terms of compensation. This certainly holds true for the United States, but also to a lesser degree for Europe." Josef Ackermann, CEO & Chairman, Deutsche Bank "So anybody who says that inequality isn't a big issue for the effective functioning of a society, is simply ignorant of the record of humanity. It's a huge issue." Fred Smith, Chairman, President & CEO, FedEx Features interviews with -Josef Ackermann, CEO & Chairman, Deutsche Bank -Bertrand Collomb, Honorary Chairman, Lafarge -Gabriele Galateri di Genola, Chairman, Telecom Italia -Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman, BASF -Maurice Lévy, Chairman & CEO, Publicis -John Monks, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation -Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Former Chairman, Anglo American; Former Chairman, Shell -Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President, Party of European Socialists; Former Prime Minister, Denmark -Fred Smith, Chairman, President, & CEO, FedEx -John Sweeney, President Emeritus, AFL-CIO -William Weld, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Former Governor, Massachusetts -James Wolfensohn, Chairman & CEO, Wolfensohn & Co.; Former President, World Bank -Jerry Yang, Co-Founder & Chief Yahoo, Yahoo! Analytical chapters and recommendations -Roland Berger, Founder, Roland Berger Foundation -David B. Grusky, Director, Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty & Inequality -Christopher Wimer, Associate Director, Collaboration for Poverty Research, Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty & Inequality

Inhalt
Is There Too Much Inequality?.- INTERVIEWS.- Josef Ackermann.- Bertrand Collomb.- Gabriele Galateri di Genola.- Jürgen Hambrecht.- Maurice Lévy.- John Monks.- Sir Mark Moody-Stuart.- Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.- Fred Smith.- John Sweeney.- William Weld.- James Wolfensohn.- Jerry Yang.- SUMMARY.- Trends and Topics from the Interviews.- A View from the Top.- COMMENTARY.- Five Principles for Moving Forward.- Can Inequality Be Reduced by Building Better Markets?.