Written by Fabio Rojas (Indiana University) as part of A Sociology Experiment. To read this chapter, add it to your cart, complete the checkout process, return to this page, and select “Read Now” to open the Bookshelf reader.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to: illustrate how social factors impact the economy; discuss workplace inequality by identifying sources of income inequality; analyze how institutions are used to organize our economic lives; contrast major arguments in favor and against market-based systems; and analyze economic inequality by discussing wealth and poverty in the United States.