Great Gatsby curve

noun

A chart plotting the relationship between inequality and intergenerational social immobility in several countries around the world.

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Meanings

nounGreat Gatsby curve (plural Great Gatsby curves)

plural Great Gatsby curves

  1. economicsA chart plotting the relationship between inequality and intergenerational social immobility in several countries around the world.

Origin

Coined by American economist Judd Cramer and introduced by Alan Krueger in a speech in 2012, in allusion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925).

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Cite this entry
APA

Great Gatsby curve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Gatsby%20curve

MLA

“Great Gatsby curve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Gatsby%20curve. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Great Gatsby curve,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Great%20Gatsby%20curve.

Source: Great Gatsby curve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.