Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Speaking of the Middle Class

Plutarch, writing almost 2,000 years ago, told us that “an imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”

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If [the chart] showed the course of net worth imbalance, it would be much more dramatic. If it showed data for the top tenth of one percent– not just the top ten percent– it would be extraordinarily dramatic.

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The correlation between equality and most measures of well-being is stronger than the correlation between wealth and well-being.

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Still, the rich consistently try to destroy egalitarianism, because for their segment, inequality is fine.

  Informed Comment

Yeah, until the whole thing crashes…unless, of course, they have their money in overseas accounts and get to their homes on foreign rivieras quickly.

The U.S. is now more unequal than a number of countries in Latin America. When I was younger it was accepted wisdom that those countries would never get anywhere until they solved the inequality problem.


....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

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