Obesity & Inequality

May 30, 2004 5:17 PM by Art Carden | Other posts by Art Carden | Comments (1)

Radley Balko links to a couple of pieces on the supposed link between inequality and obesity--Polly Toynbee's claim in The Guardian that there is a causal relationship between the two and an excellent, evidence-based refutation of her claims. Let's assume for a moment that Polly is right. Can the state fix it with income redistribution?

No. A-theoretical though the article may be, I noted about a year ago that government redistribution schemes have not reduced inequality: in fact, there's a positive correlation between real social spending and inequality.

The moral of the story: correlation is not causation. Moreover, even if it were, the "obvious solution--" income redistribution-- probably won't work.

Caveat: note that the "spending as a percentage of GDP" axis is improperly scaled. Private charitable giving is more like 3-4% of GDP, not the 15-18% indicated by the graph. Nonetheless, the trend & correlation are accurately represented.