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On 9/24/2010 9:05 AM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4C9BF96B.2070403@illinois.edu" type="cite">
William Alden <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Alden@huffingtonpost.com">Alden@huffingtonpost.com</a>
<br>
Americans Vastly Underestimate Wealth Inequality, Support 'More
Equal Distribution Of Wealth': Study
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First Posted: 09-23-10
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Americans vastly underestimate the degree of wealth inequality in
America, and we believe that the distribution should be far more
equitable than it actually is, according to a new study.
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Or, as the study's authors put it: "All demographic groups -- even
those not usually associated with wealth redistribution such as
Republicans and the wealthy -- desired a more equal distribution of
wealth than the status quo."
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The report (pdf) "Building a Better America -- One Wealth Quintile At A
Time" by Dan Ariely of Duke University and Michael I. Norton of Harvard
Business School (hat tip to Paul Kedrosky), shows that across
ideological, economic and gender groups, Americans thought the richest
20 percent of our society controlled about 59 percent of the wealth,
while the real number was closer to 84 percent.
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More interesting than that, the report says, is that the respondents (a
randomly selected 5,522-person sample, reflecting the country's
ideological, economic and gender demographics, surveyed in December
2005) believed the top 20 percent should own only 32 percent of the
wealth. Respondents with incomes over $100,000 per year had similar
answers to those making less then $50,000. (The report has helpful,
multi-colored charts.)
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The respondents were presented with unlabeled pie charts representing
the wealth distributions of the U.S., where the richest 20 percent
controlled about 84 percent of wealth, and Sweden, where the top 20
percent only controlled 36 percent of wealth. Without knowing which
country they were picking, 92 percent of respondents said they'd rather
live in a country with Sweden's wealth distribution.
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As the new Forbes billionaires list, released Wednesday, testifies, the
richest Americans are getting richer, even as the country as a whole
gets poorer. After 2005 income inequality continued to balloon.
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READ the study:
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/23/americans-support-wealth-redistribution_n_736132.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/23/americans-support-wealth-redistribution_n_736132.html</a>
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