Thursday, November 8, 2007

Income Inequality

Statistically, income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) is very high for countries with low power and totally incorrect perception of how people can reach their goals. Inequality reaches a minimum just before some people start perceiving the correct things they must do to improve their lives. Inequality climbs several percent and virtually levels off as people gain more power and awareness. Beyond a minor dip at the point where everyone knows what “direction” (if not the total amount of effort required) to act in their best interest, inequality climbs again, most rapidly as everyone has a better than even chance of knowing how much effort to expend.

Applied to world history, the world had nearly 90 percent income inequality until the late 1800s, and then dropped rapidly to the minimum of about a quarter. It climbed to near its current value of about a third by 1900, and has stayed near there since then (the “minor dip” occurred in 1950, when ideality leveled off).

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