at the low end the nordic countries denmark iceland norway and sweden and switzerland all have belowaverage inequality and belowaverage poverty most people receive cash transfers from the state and income taxes are strongly progressive in other words higher earners lose a bigger share of their income in tax several factors are at work the wage range is relatively wide with some people on very high wages and the state often provides less in the way of cash transfers china and india are the most famous examples but they re not alone in the s only developing economies saw their gdp per capita grow at more than double the rate of oecd countries in the s that number soared to nevertheless the impact of this shift has been profound