The U.S. is Now More Unequal than Much of Latin America

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The vast gap between rich and poor in Latin America has long been notorious. In fact, it grew even more during the 80s and 90s. But over the last decade, income inequality in Latin America has been rapidly decreasing, while inequality in the U.S. has skyrocketed in the other direction, as the top 1 percent of earners pulls further and further away from the middle class and poor.

Over the last half a century, income inequality in the U.S. has grown more than in any other western country. As a result, the U.S. is now one of the more unequal countries in the Americas, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s Statistical Yearbook, released earlier this month. Incidentally, the most equal country on the list, Uruguay, is led by a president who lives on his wife’s farm and gives 90 percent of his salary to charity, leaving himself with an income of $775 a month — in line with the average Uruguayan.

Here’s the full list, via Huffington Post:

via the Huffington Post

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