Several prominent economists now reckon that inequality was a root cause of the financial crisis: politicians tried to counter the growing gap between rich and poor by encouraging poorer folk to take on more credit (see article).

ECONOMIST: Inequality: The rich and the rest | The

Some counter that the hours gap would shrink if employers offered more family-friendly policies, such as flexible hours and easier on-off ramps for moving in and out of the workforce.

WSJ: Kay Hymowitz: Why Women Make Less Than Men

Brands in all categories overall have kept up by only 8%, which anyone at the checkout counter can tell you is an awfully big gap between what you have and what the customer really desires.

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The counter shop lives on, seemingly now mainly run in Britain by enterprising Indians and Pakistanis who have found a gap in the market and are every bit as polite as the assistants who used to be behind Sainsbury's marble counters.

ECONOMIST: Lord Sainsbury