I found Shirley's comments recently on income inequality as a determinant of health very timely and after reading the contribution by G. Koertz provided by D. Raphael this afternoon I felt that I must join in!
This is my first contribution and I hope it is not redundant! - here goes.
One of the aspects of health that has been well covered by the British is the subject of inequalities in health. This has come about principally from the "Black Report" written in 1980 upon request from the government who at that time were trying to come to grips with the fact that the NHS had not been able to make significant progress in the area of health inequalities. In 1990 this was updated by Margaret Whitehead author of the "The Health Divide".
Although these reports do not use income strictly as a measurement they make use of the 5 classifications of social /occupational class to determine the inequality of health among these classes.
They also offer 4 explanations for health inequality among the social classes that are thought provoking!
Of course there have been numerous projects that support the "Health and Income  Gap" theory as mentioned in todays message from D.Raphael.
For those interested in Health Inequalities I recommend they take the opportunity to read some of the back issues of the BMJ. In particular, April 20, 1996 to the present. As well as addressing inequalities in health the BMJ have also published some good pieces on poverty and health. I imagine that Richard Wilkinson is the driving force behind this in the BMJ as he is it's editor and has a  long-standing interest in this area. He has written at least two books that I have read on the issue, and there are probably more.
In the book "Unhealthy Societies" he devotes a chapter to the importance of social cohesion and it's relationship to income equality and health. I found this to be quite useful in understanding the cycle of poverty that exists for those in socially disintegrated areas.
For those who might like to read something a little different that addresses the role of inequality in a broader sense I would suggest "The Good Society" by Galbraith (1996). In this book he shares some very interesting views on the distribution of income and power in society.
Also, The Fraser Institute Web Site is an interesting location to find Canadian content on Health Economics. They have an article on child poverty and the media which is food for thought!
 As the differences between the wealthy and the less fortunate become more dramatic the issue of inequality demands more of our attention.
As health promoters we should not be deciding whether income inequality is pertinent to our discussion but how we can better understand the forces that drive income and health inequalities.
I would be happy to to see further discussion on this mailing list and posting of articles etc.
Cheers!

Colleen Nisbet

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Post Graduate Studies
Health Promotion
Brunel University, London UK

http://www.brunel.ac.uk/