U.S. Has A Huge Wealth Inequality

One of the worst things that can happen in a country is for the distribution of wealth in the country to get too far out of whack. If this happens, either the people will rebel against the inequity or the economy will will fail. Recent examples of the people rebelling against economic inequality can be found in Tunisia and Egypt. A perfect example of economic failure due to economic inequality is the Great Depression in the United States in the 1920s.

The United States was fortunate to come out of the Great Depression due to enormous government spending to create jobs (especially during World War II), larger taxes on the rich, and programs like the GI Bill which boosted ordinary Americans. But starting in the 1980s, Republicans were once again able to sell their "trickle-down" theory (which said that giving the rich more money will benefit everyone). They deregulated Wall Street and corporate America, encouraged the outsourcing of jobs, and weakened the power of unions.

But instead of helping all Americans, it did nothing but fatten the bank accounts of the rich. Now the wealth disparity is nearly as bad as it was in the 1920s. But this time, instead of spending and job creation, our government is cutting spending while giving the rich massive tax breaks (and encouraging the continuation of job outsourcing) -- things that will just increase the country's wealth inequality.

Our own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) publishes a World Factbook, and one of those things contained in that publication is a GINI Index (which gives each country a number showing the inequality of wealth distribution in that country -- the lower the number, the more equal the wealth distribution). Sadly, the CIA's figures show that the United States has a more unequal distribution of wealth than most countries. At least 92 countries (out of 134 countries rated) have a more equal distribution than the United States.

Japan, South Korea, China, Russia and all of the developed nations of Western Europe had a much more equitable distribution of income than the United States. But what was really embarrassing is that many countries that U.S. citizens consider to be more backward economically also had a more equitable distribution (including Tunisia and Egypt). It just shows how the U.S. is headed for more economic problems -- especially since the inequality continues to grow. Here are some numbers from different countries:

Sweden (most equal)..........23.0
Norway..........25.0
Germany..........27.0
Iceland..........28.0
Belgium..........28.0
Denmark..........29.0
Finland..........29.5
Ethiopia..........30.0
Australia..........30.5
Pakistan..........30.6
Ireland..........30.7
Netherlands..........30.9
South Korea..........31.4
Spain..........32.0
Italy..........32.0
Canada..........32.1
France..........32.7
Mongolia..........32.8
Bangladesh..........33.2
United Kingdom..........34.0
Egypt..........34.4
Laos..........34.6
India..........36.8
Vietnam..........37.0
Yemen..........37.7
Japan..........38.1
Malawi..........39.0
Israel..........39.2
Indonesia..........39.4
Ghana..........39.4
Jordan..........39.7
Tunisia..........40.0
Morocco..........40.9
Venezuela..........41.0
Turkey..........41.0
China..........41.5
Russia..........42.2
Kenya..........42.5
Cambodia..........43.0
Nigeria..........43.7
Iran..........44.5
United States..........45.0

You can go to this site to see the complete list of 134 countries.