Is inequality rising or falling? Both, according to a report published on July 16th by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank. In the 1980s a big gap between rich and poor opened up. Since the early 1990s, however, the difference between the incomes of the top and bottom deciles (the “90:10 ratio”) has diminished; the ratio is now at its lowest in more than 25 years. But that is not the whole story. The share of income held by the richest 1%, another measure of inequality, has continued to grow. The 1% now receive more than double the share they took home 30 years ago. The gap between rich and poor has narrowed. But the gulf between the mega-rich and the rest continues to widen.
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