> I would note that if Gini coefficients for income
>(or consumption) distribution are hard to measure,
>ones for wealth are much harder and are much less
>frequently done. By now most governments from
>time to time make some kinds of efforts to do income
>or consumption ginis. But, wealth.... well, a few
>years ago when Robert Avery did a wealth distribution
>study of the US at the Fed he was roundly denounced.
The Fed does wealth distribution studies every three years, as part of the Survey of Consumer Finances. The 1998 net worth gini was .794. See Arthur Kennickell's paper at <http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/pubs/oss/oss2/papers/concent.1.pdf> for more.
Doug