Another View of Inequality
Government data on individual spending patterns show that the ratio of spending between the top and bottom 20 percent of the income distribution, measured on a per person basis, was essentially unchanged between 1985 and 2010. In 1985 people in the top quintile had spending that was 2.5 times that of people in the bottom quintile. By 2010, this ratio was 2.4…
Many studies that have found growing inequality of income use pretax income and omit transfers, such as food stamps, etc. Measuring income on an after-tax basis and including transfers reduces real and perceived inequality.
Entire Diana Furchtgott-Roth’s editorial worth reading.
The whole purpose of transfer payments is to reduce equity. Why would advocates ignore transfers unless advocates wanted to distort the picture?
http://lanekenworthy.net/2012/03/11/is-decoupling-real/#comment-3765
Her last line is very true, inequality has become a storyline and the definition of that is dependent on the whims of the storyteller.
Hi John, i agree with you that it was indeed AMAZING that the inrseaced use of performance pay schemes has led to the rise of wage inequality. As a matter of fact, i feel that it is perturbing that things can turn out this way in our economy. anyway, i will be talking about this issue during my economics tuition lessons in Singapore. Cheers!