4 ms·

The United States is not a particularly wealth-unequal country by world measures.

greglindahl 9y ago
The US is very wealth-unequal, especially if you compare it to developed countries: https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm
- specialist 9y ago
  Compared to itself, 30 years ago.
- IncRnd 9y ago
  That page doesn't compare wealth but disposable income.
  - dahauns 9y ago
    https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/dp2008-03.pdf https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/dp2008-03.pdf Picture's still the same.
    - IncRnd 9y ago
      Actually, that isn't shown by your link. Your link's Table 1 shows Wealth Shares by percentiles in 10% intervals. This shows a gap of 39% for the US and 53% for Denmark, between the lowest 90% and the top 10% by wealth. Comparing the top 10% to the bottom 10% shows an 82% difference for Denmark and a 70% delta for the US. The OP wrote, "the wealth gap in the US seems so much bigger than any other country," which is not supported by your link.
      - dahauns 9y ago
        The US is the third worst in that list. If you're content to say "but X is worse", as long as there is at least one X, so be it... EDIT: And if you want more recent data: https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research...
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
sleavey 9y ago
The question was specifically about developed countries. If you look up the Wikipedia entry on wealth inequality [1] and sort the first column, looking down the list the USA appears to be the highest ranked country for inequality (ratio of earnings between richest and poorest 10%). Notably China is there, and Mexico and South Africa too, among myriad developing African and Central/South American countries. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
astrodust 9y ago
America is a lot more like African and South American countries in terms of income inequality than compared to other G20 countries. It's also one of the few countries with a multitude of multi-billionaires and yet an astoundingly high rate of child poverty.

The US is very wealth-unequal, especially if you compare it to developed countries: https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm

specialist 9y ago
Compared to itself, 30 years ago.
IncRnd 9y ago
That page doesn't compare wealth but disposable income.
- dahauns 9y ago
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/dp2008-03.pdf https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/dp2008-03.pdf Picture's still the same.
  - IncRnd 9y ago
    Actually, that isn't shown by your link. Your link's Table 1 shows Wealth Shares by percentiles in 10% intervals. This shows a gap of 39% for the US and 53% for Denmark, between the lowest 90% and the top 10% by wealth. Comparing the top 10% to the bottom 10% shows an 82% difference for Denmark and a 70% delta for the US. The OP wrote, "the wealth gap in the US seems so much bigger than any other country," which is not supported by your link.
    - dahauns 9y ago
      The US is the third worst in that list. If you're content to say "but X is worse", as long as there is at least one X, so be it... EDIT: And if you want more recent data: https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research...
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]

sleavey 9y ago

The question was specifically about developed countries. If you look up the Wikipedia entry on wealth inequality [1] and sort the first column, looking down the list the USA appears to be the highest ranked country for inequality (ratio of earnings between richest and poorest 10%). Notably China is there, and Mexico and South Africa too, among myriad developing African and Central/South American countries. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...

astrodust 9y ago

America is a lot more like African and South American countries in terms of income inequality than compared to other G20 countries. It's also one of the few countries with a multitude of multi-billionaires and yet an astoundingly high rate of child poverty.