What's the problem with inequality after accounting for other societal ills and human psychology, such as:

  • Poverty

  • Lack of social mobility

  • Lack of opportunity

  • Widespread mismatch between worker skills and employer needs

  • Status competition

  • Perceived unfairness

  • Social comparison blues

  • Envy

  • Resentment

  • Mistrust of the System, eg capitalism

  • Suspicion of undeservingness, eg, illegitimate gains by the wealthy

  • Zero-sum understanding of wealth

  • Lack of hope/optimism

  • Constrained economic growth, e.g, due to misregulation, specific interests, monopolies

I suspect some will object that the other societal ills are exacerbated by inequality or that the above perceptions and emotions are onto something that really exists. To which I say: show me (with rock-solid evidence).

Causal attributions matter, because policy matters. Attacking the wrong problem makes for bad policy.