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This is very deceptive. Under this methodology, people too poor to be called “middle class” in the US would be called middle class or higher in the other countr

This is very deceptive. Under this methodology, people too poor to be called “middle class” in the US would be called middle class or higher in the other countries. Note how much higher the median income in the US is than in any other very large country (UK, Germany, France). There is no doubt the US is more unequal, but absolute wealth for the vast majority is higher.

ixtli 7y ago
Fair point but I think you can make the same claim if you only compare to countries of equivalent "first world" status. EDIT: It is still a potentially deceptive visualization though.
- marcoperaza 7y ago
  What I said holds true when comparing to all of the major European powers too. The only countries that exceed or even come close to US per capita are small, homogenous countries with niche economic specialties or resource wealth.
ucaetano 7y ago
You can address that by using Gini index x median income. The result is the same: the US continues to be an outlier with significantly higher inequality than most developed countries.
friday99 7y ago
The graph isn't about absolute levels, but income distribution. The point I think they are trying to make is that higher total income countries tend to have a more equal income distribution. The US doesn't fit that trend, though also some of the lower total income countries such as the Czech Republic have more equal distribution as well.
- marcoperaza 7y ago
  It’s incredibly deceptive because not only is almost everyone in the US wealthier than their counterparts in the distribution in Europe, but they have much higher purchasing power due to much lower prices.
  - dblotsky 7y ago
    But they might also spend more of that money on things that are free in Europe.
    - acchow 7y ago
      There should be data available for distributions of income including government transfers. But I would expect that the median for US would still be faring much better than the median for France.
      - dblotsky 7y ago
        Based on what data would you expect that?
  - ModernMech 7y ago
    Do we though? I spend most of my income on rent, healthcare, and student loans. I don't buy much because at the end of the day there's not much left over.
  - cpmsmith 7y ago
    That's what the X axis is for.
  - sjg007 7y ago
    Most expenses are housing and health care.
dblotsky 7y ago
It’s unfair for many other reasons as well. In the US more of that income might go to services that are cheaper in other countries (e.g. healthcare, education). So, what looks like a higher number (even adjusted for PPP) might still be lower in practice.
willyt 7y ago
It’s hard to make a comparison because it’s purchasing power that counts not dollar income. It’s much cheaper to eat better quality food from Waitrose in London than from Wholefoods in New York. I felt that food shopping in New York State in general was about 3 times more expensive than in the UK. But British people pay more per m² in rent because our houses are smaller than US and EU averages. In fact many new builds built in Britain would be illegal in a lot of EU countries because they are too small. So it’s more complicated than dollars.

ixtli 7y ago

Fair point but I think you can make the same claim if you only compare to countries of equivalent "first world" status. EDIT: It is still a potentially deceptive visualization though.

marcoperaza 7y ago
What I said holds true when comparing to all of the major European powers too. The only countries that exceed or even come close to US per capita are small, homogenous countries with niche economic specialties or resource wealth.

ucaetano 7y ago

You can address that by using Gini index x median income. The result is the same: the US continues to be an outlier with significantly higher inequality than most developed countries.

friday99 7y ago

The graph isn't about absolute levels, but income distribution. The point I think they are trying to make is that higher total income countries tend to have a more equal income distribution. The US doesn't fit that trend, though also some of the lower total income countries such as the Czech Republic have more equal distribution as well.

marcoperaza 7y ago
It’s incredibly deceptive because not only is almost everyone in the US wealthier than their counterparts in the distribution in Europe, but they have much higher purchasing power due to much lower prices.
- dblotsky 7y ago
  But they might also spend more of that money on things that are free in Europe.
  - acchow 7y ago
    There should be data available for distributions of income including government transfers. But I would expect that the median for US would still be faring much better than the median for France.
    - dblotsky 7y ago
      Based on what data would you expect that?
- ModernMech 7y ago
  Do we though? I spend most of my income on rent, healthcare, and student loans. I don't buy much because at the end of the day there's not much left over.
- cpmsmith 7y ago
  That's what the X axis is for.
- sjg007 7y ago
  Most expenses are housing and health care.

dblotsky 7y ago

It’s unfair for many other reasons as well. In the US more of that income might go to services that are cheaper in other countries (e.g. healthcare, education). So, what looks like a higher number (even adjusted for PPP) might still be lower in practice.

willyt 7y ago

It’s hard to make a comparison because it’s purchasing power that counts not dollar income. It’s much cheaper to eat better quality food from Waitrose in London than from Wholefoods in New York. I felt that food shopping in New York State in general was about 3 times more expensive than in the UK. But British people pay more per m² in rent because our houses are smaller than US and EU averages. In fact many new builds built in Britain would be illegal in a lot of EU countries because they are too small. So it’s more complicated than dollars.