The Next Third World Nation

Here’s a great cocktail party question. What do Cote d’Ivoire, Uruguay and the United States have in common? Answer: all three nations have about the same level of income inequality among its citizens. For those who didn’t know it, America now ranks lowest of all developed nations in terms of income distribution.

Could this happen here?


Beginning with the Occupy Wall Street movement, income inequality has come to the forefront in our consciousness and has now become a campaign issue.  So I decided to find out just where this nation’s income inequality stands in comparison to the rest of the world.


In order to discover whether a society is truly wealthy, I needed to account for the distribution of wealth. I quickly discovered that most economists and sociologists use the “Gini Index,” which measures how equitable a nation is in its distribution of wealth. The Gini Index or scale begins at “0” (everyone gets the same income) to “1” (one person has all the income).  







  1. Thanks so much for your article and the research you did. I thought I was beyond shock, but the fact that our inequality is right up there compared to other countries knocks me over. Why isn’t at least one candidate talking about this! And why isn’t that same candidate accenting the terrible situation on money from these same bandits controlling our politics! Come on Obama, talk about what really matters; the other guy doesn’t dare. John

  2. Great feedback. Stay tuned for Part III


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