Income inequality, Egypt vs US | Michael Tomasky

The protests in Egypt are about democracy first and foremost, but wouldn’t you figure there’s probably some element of economics in there? There usually is. And we know that there are many desperately poor people in Egypt. This Wikipedia page uses two rankings to show that the average per capita income in the country is just $6,367 (IMF numbers) or $6,200 (CIA World Fact Book). The United States is around $47,000 in both, while the UK is around $35,00 in both. Qatar, Luxemborg, Norway and Singapore lead the way. So it’s dirt poor. But lo and behold, but some other measures things aren’t as bad as they could be. From Think Progress : According to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. is ranked as the 42nd most unequal country in the world, with a Gini Coefficient of 45. In contrast: – Tunisia is ranked the 62nd most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of 40. – Yemen is ranked 76th most unequal, with a Gini Coefficient of 37.7. – And Egypt is ranked as the 90th most unequal country, with a Gini Coefficient of around 34.4. The Gini coefficient is used to measure inequality: the lower a country’s score, the more equal it is. Obviously, there are many things about the U.S. economy that make it far preferable to that in Egypt, including lower poverty rates, higher incomes, significantly better infrastructure, and a much higher standard of living overall. But income inequality in the U.S. is the worst it has been since the 1920′s, which is a real problem. Here’s the chart . The UK by the way ranks 92nd, so slightly less unequal than Egypt. No I would not rather live there. It’s just a dramatic way to highlight the terrible thing that has happened in the US. Our society is more unequal than at any time since 1920. It is not desirable or sustainable. And it makes America an awfully poor model for the developing world. Egypt United States Michael Tomasky guardian.co.uk

Posted by on January 31, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry