With contributions from international scholars, this second volume by Joseph Stiglitz and Martin Guzman comprises of theoretical, empirical, and policy-based chapters which carefully utilize theory and data analysis.

Part I focuses on the issues of global inequality, poverty measurement and security. Part II turns to the issue of income contingent loans (ICL), where the repayment in any year depends on the annual income of the individual. These loans have proven to be an especially effective way of financing higher education, but there has been experimentation of the use of these loans in several other areas.