<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>MM Lee said that the problem of a widening income gap is one that most countries - not just Singapore - have to contend with and that such a split is inevitable in a globalised world. Global competition, he said, both depresses wages at the bottom and boosts wages at the top.
Let us then compare the Gini coefficients of US and Singapore. I chose US because it is also one of the most affected by global competition and after Singapore, US is the country with the next highest income gap among the advanced economies. No doubt, the Gini coefficient of US is also high but we want to see how the US managed in all these years comparing with Singapore.
The blue color line refers to SG Household Income Inequality after accounting for Govt Benefits & Taxes. SG's Gini coefficient is based on household Income from work per household member. Data from US and SG Govt sources:
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/papers/people/op-s15.pdf
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/IE-1.pdf
Here's a better view of the graph without the values:
In general, we can conclude one thing. The other 1st world countries seem better able to manage their income gap. For Singapore, under PAP in the last 9 years, our income gap has continued to increase, generally speaking.
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Let us then compare the Gini coefficients of US and Singapore. I chose US because it is also one of the most affected by global competition and after Singapore, US is the country with the next highest income gap among the advanced economies. No doubt, the Gini coefficient of US is also high but we want to see how the US managed in all these years comparing with Singapore.
The blue color line refers to SG Household Income Inequality after accounting for Govt Benefits & Taxes. SG's Gini coefficient is based on household Income from work per household member. Data from US and SG Govt sources:
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/papers/people/op-s15.pdf
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/IE-1.pdf
Here's a better view of the graph without the values:
In general, we can conclude one thing. The other 1st world countries seem better able to manage their income gap. For Singapore, under PAP in the last 9 years, our income gap has continued to increase, generally speaking.
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