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That's a totally disingenuous comparison because it ignores both prices and the actual shape of the distribution. Don't perseverate over big numbers. If everyon
by notacoward 5y ago
That's a totally disingenuous comparison because it ignores both prices and the actual shape of the distribution. Don't perseverate over big numbers. If everyone's income doubled overnight we'd have a wider range ... but it would be utterly meaningless if prices also doubled. Likewise, if a trillionaire magically appeared the total range would increase but that would have zero effect on what a quintile difference meant to anyone else. Absolute numbers are useless. Percentiles matter because they're intrinsically tied to the other things that give differences any meaning.
- _delirium 5y agoI agree, the GP comment makes no sense. Prices of important things like homes are set relative to income, so it's relative income that is important, not absolute income. Most people judge their affluence in terms of evaluations like: "I make enough money to buy a nice house in a nice neighborhood".
- visarga 5y agoDepends on what politicians the trillionaire is spending his money on.