Share and share alike: On income inequality

The differences in the performance of more and less equal countries are very large. Rather than things being just a bit worse in more unequal countries, they are very much worse. More unequal countries have three times the rates of violence, of infant mortality and of mental illness. Their teenage birth rates are six times as high, and rates of imprisonment are eight times higher.

From Hey, America: It’s Time to Redefine the “Good Life” on Alternet.org.

The United States’ income inequality is comparable to that of Russia and Mexico. In fact, we’re the only rich nation in which it has become worse since 1980.