5-Is the Great Divergence an inevitable result of global trends in capitalism? If it were, we’d expect to see the same trend in other countries. But while incomes have over time tended to become less equal in industrialized countries, that hasn’t happened everywhere. (In France, incomes have been becoming more …
5-Is the Great Divergence an inevitable result of global trends in capitalism? If it were, we’d expect to see the same trend in other countries. But while incomes have over time tended to become less equal in industrialized countries, that hasn’t happened everywhere. (In France, incomes have been becoming more equal.) And nowhere has the income-inequality trend been more dramatic than in the United States.
This chart shows select nations where the income share of the top 1 percent was highest in 2005. These are all countries with income-inequality problems. But none of them can beat the United States, where in 2005 the top 1 percent gobbled up 17 percent of national income. The best Argentina can do is tie us.