Perpetuating inequality
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Aaron Task at Daily Ticker on June 8 reviewed the book The Price of Inequality, by Columbia professor and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who concluded that America is "no longer the land of opportunity" and that "the American dream is a myth".
Over the last 30 years, the share of national income held by the top 1 per cent of Americans has doubled or tripled, while median incomes for American workers have stagnated. Just 8 per cent of students at America’s elite universities come from households in the bottom 50 per cent of income, and the income inequality will widen in the next 10 to 20 years. So, Sitglitz recommends improving education and nutrition for those at the bottom of society - and the elimination of limiting competition, promoting cronyism and keeping those at the bottom from reaching their potential.
The tragic thing for Thailand about the findings is this: the 20 per cent of Thais who earn 55 per cent of income in Thailand will simply point at the US to justify their own graft, cronyism and dictatorial ways, including military coups and a politicised legal system. The whole mess is sad for the US and doubly sad for Thailand, as the top 20 per cent of Thais do not give a damn about anyone or anything except themselves.
Guy Baker
Bangkok
