It would have been much more informative if Klein had given the sort of figures that Doug gives. What explains the sudden shift in the ratio in Great Britain? Are there shifts upward in the ratio in developing countries such as China or Brazil?
Cheers, Ken Hanly --- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Feb 6, 2008, at 9:26 AM, Bill Hoffman wrote:
>
> > Apart from her use of "average" when "mean" would
> have been more
> > accurate,
> > and probably her intent, I'm wondering about the
> association of the
> > relationship with wealth. What nations provide the
> counterexamples
> > - for
> > instance, where most people earn MORE than the
> mean income...
>
> I doubt there are any such nations. E.g., an article
> by Lars Osberg
> ["Long-Run Trends in Income Inequality in the United
> States, UK,
> Sweden, Germany, and Canada: A Birth Cohort View,"
> Eastern Economic
> Journal 29:1 (Winter 2003), pp. 121-141] reports
> median and mean
> incomes for five countries from the early 1970s to
> the mid-1990s
> (exact years vary, which is why the time periods are
> a little vague).
> Here's a summary table:
>
>
> ratios of mean to median household incomes
>
> early 70s mid 80s mid 90s
> Canada 1.10 1.10 1.11
> US 1.11 1.14 1.18
> UK 1.11 1.15 1.20
> Sweden 1.03 1.03 1.05
> Germany 1.10 1.10 1.11
>
> Even Sweden shows a higher mean than median, though
> not by much. Note
> the stability in all countries except the U.S. and
> UK.
>
> Doug
>
>
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