A review by jennylimmy
The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne

3.0

This feels like a companion piece to Scarcity (Shafir, Mullainathan 2013), which explores the cognitive costs of poverty. The Broken Ladder clarifies that absolute need is not the only problem: feelings of relative need can take a cognitive toll as well. However, this book does not hold to the high standard of Scarcity: some of the studies the author mentions are sloppy (not even blind!), and he does not do much to clarify correlation v. causation.
Nonetheless, the book’s overall argument is convincing, though somewhat obvious: if inequality were reduced in the U.S., everyone would probably be better off.