Economic Growth, Inefficient Markets, and Economic Inequality

Economic growth is ardently emphasized as a requisite underpinning not only for improving individual income, the standard of living, and a society's infrastructure, but also to attain equitable distribution of necessities, critical resources, and public goods such as education, healthcare, and housing to improve the people's quality of life. While the political economy, democratic elections, and ideological discourse shape the policies, budget allocations, procedural justice, and distributive outcomes, however, the impact of the financial markets' efficiency or its lack thereof - on the income and health of people and growth of industries have been a less investigated subject in economics. We review, with the recent U.S. economic history and trends in focus, how the larger economic contexts evolve over time and what theories and practices shape the political economy and their impact on the growth and equitable distribution of public goods. Given the rise of inequality and this topic is at the core of policy discourse across nations, this manuscript traces a cause of economic inequality to the inefficient functioning of financial markets and its growth-confining effects across industries. We confer how the growth is disrupted by an imbalance in the allocation and distribution of financial resources and rents across industries and population segments further widening economic inequality."Metaphorically speaking, there is a sprinting competition between Elephants, Camels, Horses, and Rabbits on the same track. We know that, for sure, the camels and elephants can't beat the horses and rabbits in speed or timing. And the horses cannot beat the rabbits either. Alas, the pace of value-creation can never match the speed of a gambler's wager; Even rabbits and horses cannot outrun the speed of a gambler's wager, let alone camels and elephants."