English

Noun

plutonomy ‎(countable and uncountable, plural plutonomies)

1. An economy that is significantly influenced by the very wealthy.
2. The study of the production and distribution of wealth.

Quotations

• 1866, Frederic Harrison, "Industrial Co-operation", in The Fortnightly Review, vol. III, page 499

  On this side it [Socialism] is a crude compromise between the claims of labour and of capital — the hybrid child of Plutonomy and Communism.

Related terms

• plutocracy
• plutocrat
• plutonomic

Derived terms

• plutonomist

References

1. ↑ “Plutonomics”, Robert Frank, Wall Street Journal blog The Wealth Report, January 8, 2007:
   ‘Ajay Kapur, global strategist at Citigroup, and his research team came up with the term “Plutonomy” in 2005 to describe a country that is defined by massive income and wealth inequality. According to their definition, the U.S. is a Plutonomy, along with the U.K., Canada and Australia.’
2. ↑ “The Economics Of Plutonomy”, Matthew Yglesias, Slate, Moneybox, Nov. 21, 2011

• “plutonomy”, in OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000. (2006)