Wealth inequalities both within and between nations has reached an extreme point and is continuing to increase (Collier P. The bottom billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it. Oxford University Press, New York, 2007; Henneberg S, The wealth gaps. Farmington Hills:...

This paper throws new light on the relationship between income and democracy. Using data for 162 countries over 1960-2018, we show that the causal relationship between political and economic development is U-shaped: "intermediate" political regimes significantly lead to inferior economic...