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The state of wealth inequality in the States
This is very depressing. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.
Basically, we the people of this country are delusional about how much of our nation's wealth is controlled by how small of a group of people, and how much is controlled by the poorest segment of our population.
Psychologists from Duke and Harvard Business School interviewed thousands of people to find out what their perception of wealth distribution was like, and it was not pretty. "Ariely and Norton found that Americans think they live in a far more equal country than they in fact do. On average, those surveyed estimated that the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans own 59 percent of the nation's wealth; in reality the top quintile owns around 84 percent. The respondents further estimated that the poorest 20 percent own 3.7 percent, when in reality they own 0.1 percent."
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_44/b4201008238184.htm
*sigh*
Basically, we the people of this country are delusional about how much of our nation's wealth is controlled by how small of a group of people, and how much is controlled by the poorest segment of our population.
Psychologists from Duke and Harvard Business School interviewed thousands of people to find out what their perception of wealth distribution was like, and it was not pretty. "Ariely and Norton found that Americans think they live in a far more equal country than they in fact do. On average, those surveyed estimated that the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans own 59 percent of the nation's wealth; in reality the top quintile owns around 84 percent. The respondents further estimated that the poorest 20 percent own 3.7 percent, when in reality they own 0.1 percent."
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_44/b4201008238184.htm
*sigh*