Inequality in America

America risks becoming a Downton Abbey economy | Lawrence H. Summers

Larry Summers talking about inequality in the US sounds very sensible to me.

I see that one of the favourite handwave of some of the rich and comfortable in Australia at the moment is "but so many Chinese have been lifted out of poverty in the last couple of decades.  You ungrateful Westerners."

I also note that Judith Sloan, (probably, I like to imagine, while sipping a gin and tonic and between tap tapping her way through another "it's all the fault of unions and the carbon tax" bit of ideological warfare for the Australian) has taken to pooh poohing the Gini co-efficient entirely:

And, by the way, do we really care about the Gini coefficient in developed economies where those at the bottom receive government transfers and in-kind benefits? 

I don't know much about the Gini co-efficient, but given that it is in the interests of the "small government, small tax at any cost" ideology of Sloan and her mates at Catallaxy to downplay or dismiss inequality, I am very suspicious about her shrug of the shoulders approach.