--- William T Goodall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It depends how it is distributed. I recall reading > something about how > the more socialist and redistributive taxation in > Europe had caused > growth to be slightly lower than in the US (as you > argue), but that the > poorest 25% in the US are actually worse off than > their European > counterparts. Of course that might be wrong, but the > glib 'rising tide > raises all boats' is questionable. The US certainly > has a wider divide > between the richest and poorest than many other > developed countries, > which makes it plausible.
It's plausible. It _may_ even be true. The other big difference between the European and American economies, though, is mass immigration - particularly mass unskilled immigration. That drives the wages for low-skilled workers in the US down, and creates a pool of poor in the US who have no equivalent in Europe, increasing inequality in two ways. It's at least possible that the US could maintain higher economic growth than Europe _and_ equivalent differences in income without that factor. Or it might not - but certainly a large part of that difference is because of that. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
