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Kuznets curve

/ˈkʌznɛts kɝv/

Kuznets curve noun: a theoretical curve that graphs the hypothesis that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality.

Noun

Kuznets curve (plural Kuznets curves)

  1. A theoretical curve that graphs the hypothesis that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality.
    • On the surface, the Kuznets curve seems to justify laissez-faire economics and trickle-down policies.2012 April 30, Kentaro Toyama, “The Rise and Fall and Rise (Literally) of the Most Important Curve in Economics”, in The Atlantic
    • Their creed is based on the Kuznets curve, the graph that appears to show that inequality automatically declines as capitalism advances, spreading wealth from the elite to the rest.2014 July 29, George Monbiot, “The rich want us to believe their wealth is good for us all”, in The Guardian

Forms of Kuznets curve

pluralKuznets curves

Origin of Kuznets curve

Named after economist Simon Kuznets (1901–1985).

Questions about Kuznets curve

What does Kuznets curve mean?
Kuznets curve means a theoretical curve that graphs the hypothesis that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality.
What part of speech is Kuznets curve?
Kuznets curve is a noun.
How do you pronounce Kuznets curve?
Kuznets curve is pronounced /ˈkʌznɛts kɝv/.
What is the plural of Kuznets curve?
The plural of Kuznets curve is Kuznets curves.

Words near Kuznets curve in the dictionary

  1. Kuzmin
  2. kuzminite
  3. Kuzmins
  4. Kuznecov
  5. Kuznets
  6. Kuznets curve
  7. Kuznets curves
  8. Kuznets cycle
  9. Kuznets cycles
  10. Kuznets swing
  11. Kuznets swings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Kuznets curve (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Kuznets curve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kuznets_curve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.