Severe income inequality insulates economies from shocks, according to a Citigroup analysis scrutinized in the Buttonwood column in the March 31 issue of The Economist. The skew of wealth distribution in favor of the rich, who, according to this analysis, are less sensitive to factors like rising oil prices or interest rates-explains why countries with large income disparities, such as the U.S., have better-performing markets and economies than more egalitarian countries like Japan, France and the Netherlands, according to this theory.