Income More Unequal in US Than in Some Parts of Latin America
by JJ Sutherland
There's a fascinating series being published over on Slate by Timothy Noah. It explores the growing income inequality in the United States. Really interesting stuff worth a read. One paragraph really popped out at me.
All my life I've heard Latin America described as a failed society (or collection of failed societies) because of its grotesque maldistribution of wealth. Peasants in rags beg for food outside the high walls of opulent villas, and so on. But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is more unequal than in Guyana, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and roughly on par with Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador. Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States . . . .
