Also lagging in the struggle against inequality: India and Pakistan. Along with Nigeria, these middle-income nations, observe Oxfam and DFI, “could be spending far more on health, education, and social protection than they are.” With a combined population of 1.6 billion, the three “could make an enormous impact on reducing global poverty and inequality if they chose to.”
The laggard among the world’s rich nations? No contest there: the United States. The “wealthiest country in the history of the world” — the Oxfam and DFI label — has the highest level of inequality among the world’s major industrial nations. And the U.S. government is letting that inequality get worse — on every major front.
The actual tax rate on U.S. corporate income, for instance, runs just 14 percent, well below the statutory rate of 35 percent. U.S. workers, meanwhile, need $10.60 an hour to keep a family of four above the poverty line. The federal minimum wage guarantees just $7.25 an hour. And labor rights in the United States remain minimal, by developed world standards. Trade union representation has dropped by half, down to just over 10 percent, since 1983.
Realities like these help explain why the United States ranks 21st among developed nations on the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index, behind Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Austria, Finland. France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, Portugal, and Slovenia.
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July 25th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
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