GINI Index.. latest.. guess where we are?

[pia]

Among Developed econonomies, that is..


The U.N. Development Program recently came out with a report looking, among other things, at income inequality worldwide.


The UNDP ranked countries and regions based on a number of factors, including their Gini coefficient, named for Italian statistician Corrado Gini.

We have listed the world's most advanced economies based on their Gini score, with zero marking absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality. Scandinavian countries, Japan, and the Czech Republic have the least amount of inequality. The U.S. is among the most unequal, but it's not No. 1. To see which economy is, read on.

Top 11 Countries With the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor

No. 1 Hong Kong



ED Jones/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 43.4
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 207.2
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 34.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.8

Renowned for its high concentration of Rolls-Royces, expensive real estate, and posh shops, the Chinese special administrative region has plenty of rich who enjoy showing off their wealth. However, Hong Kong also has one of the largest public housing sectors in the world, with about half the population living in government-supported or -subsidized housing estates. The city has no minimum wage—except for domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries.

No. 2 Singapore

Gini score: 42.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 161.3
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 32.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.7

Singapore is one of the world's most open economies, and it suffered badly following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last year. Recently, though, the city-state's economy has rebounded, with GDP growing an annualized 14.9% rate in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter.

No. 3 U.S.



Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images


Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.9

The share of income for the top percentile of Americans was 23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928, according to Emmanuel Saez, a Berkeley economist who won the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal in April. Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high 6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income inequality.

No. 4 Israel

Gini score: 39.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 164.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.4

Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most egalitarian societies. Early Labor Zionist pioneers built kibbutzim for Jewish immigrants, but those collectives have fallen on hard times. The growing number of haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.

No. 5 Portugal



Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images


Gini score: 38.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 222.8
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 29.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.0

While Portugal emerged from recession in the second quarter, the unemployment rate tops 9%. The ruling Socialists retained power in elections last month but lost seats to parties on the far left.

No. 6 New Zealand

Gini score: 36.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 135.7
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.2
Richest 10%: 27.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 12.5

According to the OECD, New Zealand had the biggest rise in inequality among member nations in the two decades starting in the mid-1980s. The country's economy emerged from recession in the second quarter, but with growth of just 0.1%, the central bank is likely to keep interest rates low until well into 2010.

No. 7 (tie) Italy



Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 36.0
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 2,101.6
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.3
Richest 10%: 26.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 11.6

Italians are focused now on the melodrama surrounding embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The political crisis comes at a time when the economy is still mired in recession even as countries like Germany and France are growing again.

No. 7 (tie) Britain

Gini score: 36.0
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 2,772.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.5
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.8

According to Britain's Institute of Fiscal Studies, a government-funded think tank, the average national income, adjusted for inflation, grew 0.5% between 2004 and 2008. In contrast, the same figure for the top 90% income bracket jumped 1.2% over the same period. That was predominantly driven by large salaries and bonuses from the financial services sector in the pre-credit crunch era.

No. 9 Australia



GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images, Scott Barbour/Getty Images


Gini score: 35.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 821.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 25.4
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 12.5

While developed economies elsewhere fell into recession, the Lucky Country's good fortune held out, with Australia continuing to grow thanks in part to strong demand from China for its resources. This month the central bank raised interest rates, making Australia a leader among countries moving away from monetary easing.

No. 10 (tie) Ireland

Gini score: 34.3
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 259.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.9
Richest 10%: 27.2
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 9.4

Put aside the old comparisons to Asia's tiger economies. Ireland's workers are suffering badly from the recession; the unemployment rate soared in August to 12.5%. That's the second-worst in the EU, behind only Spain.

No. 10 (tie) Greece



getty images, ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 34.3
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 313.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.5
Richest 10%: 26.0
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 10.2

Newly elected Prime Minister George Papandreou's government faces potential disciplinary action from the European Union, which has reprimanded Greece for a budget deficit of 6% of GDP, twice the EU limit. The IMF projects the economy will shrink 0.8% this year.

 

[sampierre]

Great to know we're sandwiched between two great economies, Hong Kong and US. I'm sure China will be in the top if their economic boom continues. A very good reflection how silly the GINI number is anyway.

CASS, I think you are the SILLY OSTRICH!

You just refuse to admit that the richer are getting much richer the the poor in Singapore. Please wake up!

 

[rodent2005]

Great to know we're sandwiched between two great economies, Hong Kong and US. I'm sure China will be in the top if their economic boom continues. A very good reflection how silly the GINI number is anyway.

You stupid fucktard, every Singaporean must start asking so what u have GDP growth, what is in it for me!!!???

 

[cass888]

CASS, I think you are the SILLY OSTRICH!

You just refuse to admit that the richer are getting much richer the the poor in Singapore. Please wake up!

Who is refusing to admit anything? What do you think I mean when I say the GINI number is a silly number?

In Mao China, the rich did not get richer. Where did it get them? In Deng China, the GINI gap widened. Which China is better?

Or was the Callagan UK better than the Thatcher one?

Stop judging people by your high and mighty ultra-socialist leanings.

 

[phouse3]

Who is refusing to admit anything? What do you think I mean when I say the GINI number is a silly number?

In Mao China, the rich did not get richer. Where did it get them? In Deng China, the GINI gap widened. Which China is better?

Or was the Callagan UK better than the Thatcher one?

Stop judging people by your high and mighty ultra-socialist leanings.

You are just hoodwinking yourself and feeling proud of it. Why?

China's growing income inequality is a result of moving from a planned economy to one of free economy. (So was UK's.) The growing gap is due to the top pulling ahead.

Singapore's growing income inequality is a result of moving from a free economy to one of a manipulated economy. The growing gap is due to the bottom sliding backwards. The government has even lowered income tax and raised GST giving the excuse the rich needed incentive to work.

It has been done so skillfully that some rating agencies still consider Singapore one of the freest economies in the world.

Economists appreciate the meaning of free movement of labour. But the movement of labour for Singapore is asymmetrical – IN is easy, OUT is difficult. (Even PAP said “pak see buay zhao”)

The government makes it easier for foreigners to move in by renting out entire HDB blocks or building dormatories that look like small towns. There are snakeheads recruiting untrained labour from villages in the far-flung corners of the world. (Channelnewsasia has done a programme on it.)

To bring in cheap labour to stem the tide of companies relocating to cheaper countries whilst finding a long term solution is a wise move. To continuously rely on cheap labour after more than a decade and even went on to use cheap labour as a comparative advantage for Singapore is less than honest!

Every economist respects a country's natural resources and its comparative advantage. I grew up in a PAP system where the textbooks bragged about Singapore's only natural resource is its people.

Foreign labour is definitely not our natural resource! Neither is it our comparative advantage!

If we were to believe the many terms used by the PAP like globalisation, this hub and that hub, free-trade-agreements, life sciences, a well-trained workforce which is among the best in the world, etc. We should be moving up the economic ladder, not sliding down.

 

[cleareyes]

CASS, I think you are the SILLY OSTRICH!

You just refuse to admit that the richer are getting much richer the the poor in Singapore. Please wake up!

In a capitolist economy, its common for the rich and poor gap to be wide and at times, widen. The question would be, how do we get ourselves down to resolve this issue?

PAP is extremely slow and small on social programs to bridge this gap. in what way can the opposition contribute to improve the situation?

 

[cass888]

Singapore's growing income inequality is a result of moving from a free economy to one of a manipulated economy. The growing gap is due to the bottom sliding backwards. The government has even lowered income tax and raised GST giving the excuse the rich needed incentive to work.

It has been done so skillfully that some rating agencies still consider Singapore one of the freest economies in the world.

Continue hoodwinking yourself that it is always the government's fault. Every rating agency/government recognises Singapore's economy as a free one. You think you people are cleverer than the rating agencies, the CIA etc?

It is only those who don't make it who keep complaining that it is manipulated. The world don't owe you no living.

Economists appreciate the meaning of free movement of labour. But the movement of labour for Singapore is asymmetrical – IN is easy, OUT is difficult. (Even PAP said “pak see buay zhao”)

Speak for yourself. Educated Singaporeans have no difficulty finding jobs anywhere.

If we were to believe the many terms used by the PAP like globalisation, this hub and that hub, free-trade-agreements, life sciences, a well-trained workforce which is among the best in the world, etc. We should be moving up the economic ladder, not sliding down.

Those with scarce marketable skills move up. Those who don't ... well ... better start acquiring them. And getting a better attitude. The difference between a local world-owes-me-a living Singaporean sweeper and a Mainland Chinese one is that the former will complain about the bad life, while the latter will try to find another job (if allowed) or any other means of making money.

 

[sampierre]

Those with scarce marketable skills move up. Those who don't ... well ... better start acquiring them. And getting a better attitude. The difference between a local world-owes-me-a living Singaporean sweeper and a Mainland Chinese one is that the former will complain about the bad life, while the latter will try to find another job (if allowed) or any other means of making money.

Cass,

What kind of marketable skills do you expect from road sweepers and toilet cleaners for them to move up in society?
I'm very disappointed that there are mother-fucking idiots like you who are prepared to kick others who are already down and out. I hope you're NOT Singaporean, otherwise I feel very sad for you! EVEN some PAP supporters whom I know of have some sympathies for the less-well-to-do Singaporeans in our midst.

 

[kakowi]

In politics, people defend their position, not because they believe it is right but because it is beneficial to them.

In short, they become hypocrites.

In such cases, it makes no sense to talk to them.


To be meaningful, the gini coefficient need to be compared across PM Lee Kuan Yew's leadership and PM Lee Hsien Loong's leadership.

As the gap has widen across these two PMs, the next step is to ask what are the contributing factors.

Then to determine if these contributing factors are indeed neccessary for Singapore's survival.



Objectively, the following are true under PM LHL leadership which contribute to the widening of the gini coefficient:

(1) .........
(2) .........
(3) .........

The implications of these to Singaporeans are:

(1) ........
(2) ........
(3) ........

The opposition (name who) can make a difference in these areas by:

(1) ........
(2) ........
(3) ........


In this way, we avoid the imposition of parochial values which we imbibe from the diehard PAP and Oppositions apologists. Instead we are better able to determine where the problem (if any) lies and if the Oppositions are a better/worse/indifferent alternative.

Under such a system, all political parties, PAP included, need to provide evidence of their value.

And we will be more immune to the different shades of apologists.


We don't need to convince anyone but ourselves.

And we owe it to ourselves not to be convinced by hypocrites.

 

[cass888]

Cass,

What kind of marketable skills do you expect from road sweepers and toilet cleaners for them to move up in society?
I'm very disappointed that there are mother-fucking idiots like you who are prepared to kick others who are already down and out. I hope you're NOT Singaporean, otherwise I feel very sad for you! EVEN some PAP supporters whom I know of have some sympathies for the less-well-to-do Singaporeans in our midst.

sampiere

You are the one who should open your eyes. A PRC or Indian sweeper who doesn't earn enough during the day will probably be doing something else in the afternoon or evening - selling noodles or prata, wiping hawker centre tables etc.

One of the Ministers had the right idea - make the sweeper work the whole day (not all blocks have to be swept in the morning) and getting double pay. So the worker may have to work three times the hours for double pay. But it is double pay.

Find new skills, work doubly or triply hard. I really wish Singaporeans had more what you NS boys like to call the "Ai Pia Jia Eh Yah" attitude.

Learn from the hungry Chinese and Indians and now even Filipinos. Not from the happy-hour-at-5pm angmos.

 

[Watchman]

 

[sampierre]

"You are the one who should open your eyes. A PRC or Indian sweeper who doesn't earn enough during the day will probably be doing something else in the afternoon or evening - selling noodles or prata, wiping hawker centre tables etc.

One of the Ministers had the right idea - make the sweeper work the whole day (not all blocks have to be swept in the morning) and getting double pay. So the worker may have to work three times the hours for double pay. But it is double pay. "

Cass, so this is what you proposed as your marketable skills for Singaporeans in the lowest rungs of our society.
Thank you very much for your "enlightenment", mother fcuker!

 

[borom]

$3.9m needed for kids' meals
Pocket Money fund aims to help 12,400 children this year
By Ted Chen

WHEN The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund was started 10 years ago,it raised $1.3 million to help 3,735 children.......... This year, the fund has to raise $5 million to help 12,400 children....garnered $1.1 million so far. To raise the remaining $3.9 million, the fund will hold its yearly ChildAid concert and start a new project which will be announced later........
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_542753.html

I felt ashamed that in this so called first world country at least 12,400 children need help so that they will not go "hungry and could concentrate in school " (full article in pg A24 of ST June 19 2010).The actual numbers could be much higher as only those in households of per capita income not exceeding $450 are eligible..Many could be unaware, too ashamed to reveal themselves or put off by the red tape.

On the other hand you hear of our million dollar salaried ministers dishing out monies on one programme after another to help foreigners-whether to integrate, learn english or rent flats ect2.

The ST Pocket Money Fund still need to raise $3.9 million to help the 12,400
hungry children in Singapore while GIC/Temasek is throwing billions to rescue failed foreign companies with our tax monnies.

The article mentioned that to be eligible for the monthly allowance of $45, "children have to be living in a four-room HDB flat or smaller"

We must be the only country in the world where children living in palaces (that's what MBT proudly called our overpriced 3 room HBD) have to go hungry.

 

[Watchman]

Thanks to Temasek , GIC and GLCs .

They could be colluding with USA .

They did not heed people 's warning of buying USA 's debt .

We have high debt due to 30 years and above for housing loans .

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

Please note that Singapore is at the WORST positioning... other countries more or less have certain social welfare schemes for their less well off people but Singapore has none!

Goh Meng Seng

 

[Watchman]

Even is those countries do have it . They are realising it's unsustainable .

And it failing /collapsing too . Something must have gone wrong somewhere .

 

[da dick]

sux, man. we're number 2 again. and we don't even have legalised porn like US or the half-commie hongkies.

The growing number of haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.

looks like commies love blaming the jews too. most of those ultra-jews went the way of the torah to avoid getting conscripted and getting themselves killed(or killing anyone). you wanna blame good people for valuing(sp?) their lives?

 

[manokie]

Top 2:

1. Chinese
2. Chinese

I guess we need communism in HK and Sinkieland

 

[Meltdown]

Among Developed econonomies, that is..


The U.N. Development Program recently came out with a report looking, among other things, at income inequality worldwide.


The UNDP ranked countries and regions based on a number of factors, including their Gini coefficient, named for Italian statistician Corrado Gini.

We have listed the world's most advanced economies based on their Gini score, with zero marking absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality. Scandinavian countries, Japan, and the Czech Republic have the least amount of inequality. The U.S. is among the most unequal, but it's not No. 1. To see which economy is, read on.

Top 11 Countries With the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor

No. 1 Hong Kong



ED Jones/AFP/Getty Images, PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 43.4
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 207.2
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 34.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.8

Renowned for its high concentration of Rolls-Royces, expensive real estate, and posh shops, the Chinese special administrative region has plenty of rich who enjoy showing off their wealth. However, Hong Kong also has one of the largest public housing sectors in the world, with about half the population living in government-supported or -subsidized housing estates. The city has no minimum wage—except for domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries.

No. 2 Singapore

Gini score: 42.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 161.3
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 32.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 17.7

Singapore is one of the world's most open economies, and it suffered badly following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last year. Recently, though, the city-state's economy has rebounded, with GDP growing an annualized 14.9% rate in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter.

No. 3 U.S.



Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images


Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.9

The share of income for the top percentile of Americans was 23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928, according to Emmanuel Saez, a Berkeley economist who won the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal in April. Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high 6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income inequality.

No. 4 Israel

Gini score: 39.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 164.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.4

Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most egalitarian societies. Early Labor Zionist pioneers built kibbutzim for Jewish immigrants, but those collectives have fallen on hard times. The growing number of haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.

No. 5 Portugal



Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images


Gini score: 38.5
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 222.8
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 29.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.0

While Portugal emerged from recession in the second quarter, the unemployment rate tops 9%. The ruling Socialists retained power in elections last month but lost seats to parties on the far left.

No. 6 New Zealand

Gini score: 36.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 135.7
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.2
Richest 10%: 27.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 12.5

According to the OECD, New Zealand had the biggest rise in inequality among member nations in the two decades starting in the mid-1980s. The country's economy emerged from recession in the second quarter, but with growth of just 0.1%, the central bank is likely to keep interest rates low until well into 2010.

No. 7 (tie) Italy



Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 36.0
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 2,101.6
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.3
Richest 10%: 26.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 11.6

Italians are focused now on the melodrama surrounding embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The political crisis comes at a time when the economy is still mired in recession even as countries like Germany and France are growing again.

No. 7 (tie) Britain

Gini score: 36.0
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 2,772.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.5
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 13.8

According to Britain's Institute of Fiscal Studies, a government-funded think tank, the average national income, adjusted for inflation, grew 0.5% between 2004 and 2008. In contrast, the same figure for the top 90% income bracket jumped 1.2% over the same period. That was predominantly driven by large salaries and bonuses from the financial services sector in the pre-credit crunch era.

No. 9 Australia



GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images, Scott Barbour/Getty Images


Gini score: 35.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 821.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.0
Richest 10%: 25.4
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 12.5

While developed economies elsewhere fell into recession, the Lucky Country's good fortune held out, with Australia continuing to grow thanks in part to strong demand from China for its resources. This month the central bank raised interest rates, making Australia a leader among countries moving away from monetary easing.

No. 10 (tie) Ireland

Gini score: 34.3
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 259.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.9
Richest 10%: 27.2
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 9.4

Put aside the old comparisons to Asia's tiger economies. Ireland's workers are suffering badly from the recession; the unemployment rate soared in August to 12.5%. That's the second-worst in the EU, behind only Spain.

No. 10 (tie) Greece



getty images, ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty Images


Gini score: 34.3
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 313.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.5
Richest 10%: 26.0
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 10.2

Newly elected Prime Minister George Papandreou's government faces potential disciplinary action from the European Union, which has reprimanded Greece for a budget deficit of 6% of GDP, twice the EU limit. The IMF
projects the economy will shrink 0.8% this year.

The more income equality a country has, the worst off is it's fiscal budget deficit and credit rating. Look at Greece at No.10 and it's finances are now in deep SHIT! The Socialist system of robbing Peter to pay Paul (a.k.a. taxing the productive & redistribute to the unproductive parasites) is unsustainable. There's no free lunch and somebody's gotta pay the bill eventually.

I hope Singapore will overtake HK next year to the No. 1 position in GINI coefficient!