News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Typical U.S. full-time salary would be $102k if wages had kept up with growth. Parent comment

Re:Typical U.S. full-time salary would be $102k if wages had... by aaaxyz on Sunday September 27, 2020 @11:09AM (#24607181)
> "It's easier to achieve the American Dream in China, South Africa, and Brazil than it is in the US." South Africa and Brazil are two of the most unequal countries in the world as measured by the Gini Coefficient. I think the author is reading the data backwards.

Gini Coefficient and social mobility aren't perfectly correlated. I.e. imagine a society where people's accumulated lifetime wealth is highly unequal but where a 100% inheritance tax effectively resets familial wealth every generation.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Typical U.S. full-time salary would be $102k if wages had... by dalbasal on Sunday September 27, 2020 @11:36AM (#24607417)
They are even opposed, in some sense. The more inequality, the more potential for mobility there is.. at least if you are measuring mobility in absolute terms.

Since much of China's wealthy (idk about Brazil and SA) are newly wealthy, any billionaires are likely to be 1st generation wealthy. Before the 80s, being wealthy was basically banned.

[ Parent | on HN ]