wlm4 at cornell.edu
10-27-1995, 08:31 PM
ECHO BAY WASHINGTON — The income gap between rich and poor was wider in the
United States during the 1980's than in any other large industrialized
country, according to the most comprehensive international study ever
released on income distribution. While Britain, France, Italy and Ireland
all have highly paid elites, the gap between the highpaid and lowpaid
Americans was wider in the mid1980's than in these countries and others
included in the study, which was commissioned by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris based group that seeks to
coordinate the economic policies of the world's 25 richest nations. The
question of income inequality has become a hotly debated and politically
charged topic in recent years. Previous studies, contested by some
conservative economists, have suggested that the gap in income grew in the
1980's. An American adult who barely made it into the top 10 percent of
after tax income in 1987 earned 5.9 times as much as an individual who just
fell into the bottom 10 percent, according to the study. The ratio in
Finland, the country with the least inequality, was found to be 2.59.
By KEITH BRADSHER
NY Times
10/27/95
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list
United States during the 1980's than in any other large industrialized
country, according to the most comprehensive international study ever
released on income distribution. While Britain, France, Italy and Ireland
all have highly paid elites, the gap between the highpaid and lowpaid
Americans was wider in the mid1980's than in these countries and others
included in the study, which was commissioned by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris based group that seeks to
coordinate the economic policies of the world's 25 richest nations. The
question of income inequality has become a hotly debated and politically
charged topic in recent years. Previous studies, contested by some
conservative economists, have suggested that the gap in income grew in the
1980's. An American adult who barely made it into the top 10 percent of
after tax income in 1987 earned 5.9 times as much as an individual who just
fell into the bottom 10 percent, according to the study. The ratio in
Finland, the country with the least inequality, was found to be 2.59.
By KEITH BRADSHER
NY Times
10/27/95
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list