I think that in order to answer that question, you have to know how steeply well-being falls with reduced income. The poorest and least egalitarian counties in

I think that in order to answer that question, you have to know how steeply well-being falls with reduced income. The poorest and least egalitarian counties in the United States today, for instance, tend to have life-expectancies below those of many Third World countries. Overly severe inequality really seems to make it so there's no bottom to the barrel to hit!