RIP Sir Tony Atkinson

The start of 2017 has brought very sad news as we learn of the passing of Professor Tony Atkinson, one of Britain's best economists.

Professor Atkinson's life-long academic focus has been on the causes and consequences of income and wealth inequality and then in shaping practical policy ideas and strategies to promote more inclusive economic growth. He truly has been a giant in helping analyse and assess how society is performing. We need more economists prepared to challenge orthodoxy - Atkinson was a giant in this respect and he will be sorely missed.

This is a strongly recommended read:

The 15 Proposals from Tony Atkinson’s ‘Inequality – What can be done?’

Some of his recent work on inequality can be found here

In this superb talk at the RSA in June 2015, Professor Atkinson set out concrete policy proposals that could bring about a genuine shift in the distribution of income towards less inequality.

Only in November 2016 did he launch (to much acclaim) a major World Bank report on poverty.

Further reactions to the news of the passing of Sir Tony Atkinson is being curated here