View source for Globalisation:Taxpayers' Alliance: Impact of the Taxpayers' Alliance

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s book, ‘The Spirit Level’, presents the argument that income inequality is the cause of all social problems such as: murder; obesity; teenage pregnancy; and depression. The authors also take the argument beyond this, going further to suggest that inequality even limits life expectancy itself.  The book, which concludes that either taxes must rise on the rich or their incomes must fall to increase equality, received an overwhelming level of cross-party support .<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref>


Despite this conclusion, the Taxpayers Alliance, whose flagship ideology is for the campaign of lower taxes and lower spending, issued a report to oppose the ideas put forth in the Spirit Level .<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref> Their report argues that ‘the Spirit Level makes the claim that life expectancy; mortality and health in industrial societies are heavily impacted by stress caused by income inequality…however, using international standard statistics regarding income distribution, life expectancy and health from the UN, OECD and WHO, it is difficult to support the claims made regarding international health and mortality comparisons in The Spirit Level’.<ref> Nima Sanandaji, Arvid Malm and Tino Sanandaji [http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/spiritillusion.pdf The Spirit Illusion: A critical analysis of how “The Spirit Level” compares countries], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref> In addition, they argue that ‘all empirical assertions and descriptions of the state of science made in The Spirit Level should therefore be treated with caution and the other claims in the book require careful scrutiny’.<ref> Nima Sanandaji, Arvid Malm and Tino Sanandaji [http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/spiritillusion.pdf The Spirit Illusion: A critical analysis of how “The Spirit Level” compares countries], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref> The TPA research director, Matthew Sinclair criticised the book, by arguing that "on almost no measure does the central claim of the Spirit Level, that income inequality decreases life expectancy, stand up to scrutiny," .<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref>


Moreover, the Policy Exchange, often described as Cameron's favourite think-tank, produced its own report: ‘Beware False Prophets’. Its author, sociologist Peter Saunders, said The Spirit Level could "contaminate an important area of political debate with wonky statistics and spurious correlations ... Very little of Wilkinson and Pickett's statistical evidence actually stands up, and their causal argument is full of holes" .<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref> Despite the timing and findings of both the TPA and the Policy Exchange reports, the Taxpayers Alliance denies acting in alliance with the Policy Exchange.<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref>


Richard Wilkinson responded that: "It is now something for the left and we would rather have avoided that. People on the right will feel relieved knowing they don't have to treat this seriously and will be happy to know it has been rubbished." .<ref> Robert Booth [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/14/the-spirit-level-equality-thinktanks The Spirit Level: how 'ideas wreckers' turned book into political punchbag 14 August 2010], accessed 16/11/2010 </ref>


==Notes==
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