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Wealth inequality: The physics basis

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bejan, A; R Errera, M
Published in: Journal of Applied Physics
March 28, 2017

"Inequality" is a common observation about us, as members of society. In this article, we unify physics with economics by showing that the distribution of wealth is related proportionally to the movement of all the streams of a live society. The hierarchical distribution of wealth on the earth happens naturally. Hierarchy is unavoidable, with staying power, and difficult to efface. We illustrate this with two architectures, river basins and the movement of freight. The physical flow architecture that emerges is hierarchical on the surface of the earth and in everything that flows inside the live human bodies, the movement of humans and their belongings, and the engines that drive the movement. The nonuniform distribution of wealth becomes more accentuated as the economy becomes more developed, i.e., as its flow architecture becomes more complex for the purpose of covering smaller and smaller interstices of the overall (fixed) territory. It takes a relatively modest complexity for the nonuniformity in the distribution of wealth to be evident. This theory also predicts the Lorenz-type distribution of income inequality, which was adopted empirically for a century.

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Published In

Journal of Applied Physics

DOI

EISSN

1089-7550

ISSN

0021-8979

Publication Date

March 28, 2017

Volume

121

Issue

12

Related Subject Headings

  • Applied Physics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences
 

Citation

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Bejan, A., & R Errera, M. (2017). Wealth inequality: The physics basis. Journal of Applied Physics, 121(12). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4977962
Bejan, A., and M. R Errera. “Wealth inequality: The physics basis.” Journal of Applied Physics 121, no. 12 (March 28, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4977962.
Bejan A, R Errera M. Wealth inequality: The physics basis. Journal of Applied Physics. 2017 Mar 28;121(12).
Bejan, A., and M. R Errera. “Wealth inequality: The physics basis.” Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 121, no. 12, Mar. 2017. Scopus, doi:10.1063/1.4977962.
Bejan A, R Errera M. Wealth inequality: The physics basis. Journal of Applied Physics. 2017 Mar 28;121(12).

Published In

Journal of Applied Physics

DOI

EISSN

1089-7550

ISSN

0021-8979

Publication Date

March 28, 2017

Volume

121

Issue

12

Related Subject Headings

  • Applied Physics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences