Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 28 March 2012 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)(No, but they are people, and greedy, selfish psychopathic people are driving the inequality. It doesn't just happen. I was in Sweden in the 70's, listening to the professional classes bemoaning the taxes they had to pay. They should have been glad that they were actually getting a truly Great Society for their money, instead of a series of Vietnam-style wars of failed conquest like we got...Demeter)
************************************************************************
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8146-inequality-is-rising-but-the-swedes-are-no-americans
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, the authors of the book "Why Nations Fail," recently reacted on their blog to the economist Allan Meltzer's claim that the top 1 percent is surging everywhere, even in Sweden, so it's not a proper political issue.
"There are significant cross-country differences in the trends in inequality, and it is far from obvious that all of these changes are explained by global trends," they wrote in response to commentary by Mr. Meltzer published in The Wall Street Journal on March 9. "There is therefore a prima facie case that other factors and yes, domestic and political ones have also played a major role in increase in top inequality in the U.S."
As Mr. Acemoglu and Mr. Robinson say, there's other strange stuff in Meltzer: how does a rising premium for education explain soaring shares for a tiny segment of the highly educated? The premise about a global shock doesn't stand up to evidence not even the evidence Mr. Meltzer presents. And you have no business talking about international income distribution if you don't know about the invaluable World Top Incomes Database. What does this database tell us about Sweden versus America?
MORE