[2008.10.01] 每日图表：收入不平等问题

Inequality
不平等

Some more equal than others
收入平等性的差异

Oct 1st 2008
From Economist.com

Income inequality around the world
世界的收入不平等问题

NOT everyone agrees that income inequality is a problem to be solved. America and Britain are reckoned to have among the greatest inequality, among rich countries, as measured by the Gini coefficient. Such inequality may be associated with certain problems, for example a study produced last year by Unicef, the UN children’s agency, suggested that the two countries have particularly low levels of child wellbeing. For many ordinary Americans and Britons, however, social mobility and getting opportunities to prosper may be more important. Nordic countries, which are the most equal, regularly do well in happiness surveys. The highest levels of inequality are in poor countries, especially in South America and Africa.
并非所有人都认为收入不平等是一个需要解决的问题。按基尼系数计算，美英两国都位于富裕国家里收入差距最大的几个国家之列。收入不平等或许总伴有某些特定问题，比如联合国儿童基金会去年发布的一份研究报告就指出，美英两国的儿童福利水平很低。不过，对许多普通美国人和英国人来说，社会流动性和获得飞黄腾达的机会或许更为重要。在社会幸福调查中，北欧国家一般表现较好，那里是世界上收入最平等的地区。收入最不平等的往往都是贫穷国家，特别是在南美和非洲地区。

 注：图中所示不同区域是按基尼系数划分的。