Quote: (12-31-2012 04:26 PM)tenderman100 Wrote:
"Income Inequality" is a useless metric.
Suppose in Year 1 we have one guy who makes $100k, and another guy who makes $30k. Next year, the first guy makes $200K, and the second guy makes $60k. Both guys have doubled their income, but income inequality is TWICE as great as in the previous year.
Which situation would YOU want?
In other words, if the pie gets bigger, my proportional slice ALSO gets bigger, even as the relative difference may INCREASE.
This basic understanding of rates of change is beyond most leftists. It's why so few take calculus.
You have no idea what you're talking about.
Inequality, as measured by research economists, is a question of statistical dispersion. In both of your scenarios Year 1 and Year 2, the dispersion is equal. The first guy earns ten thirteenths of all the income and the second guy earns three thirteenths.
I suggest you gain at least a cursory understanding of statistics before you preach that too few of these imaginary "leftists" are taking calculus.
If you want to learn more about income disparity, look up "Gini coefficient."