Can income differences really be changed? Aren’t they just a reflection of human nature?
No. The scale of income inequality is very different in different countries – and even in different states of the USA. The more unequal of the rich developed countries (Singapore, USA, Portugal and the UK) are about twice as unequal as countries like Japan, Norway, Sweden and Finland. There are also big differences in the levels of inequality in poorer countries. Not only does the extent of inequality vary from country to country, it also varies over time. Income inequality grew rapidly in Britain, particularly from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. The USA had an almost continuous increase in inequality from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. Graphs showing the trends can be found in the last chapter of The Spirit Level. Although income differences widened in many countries, they did not do so in all countries. In the 20 years from the mid 1980s onwards, countries such as France, Belgium, Spain and Greece were among those which managed to avoid increasing inequality. Governments in all
