Hello, i'm a student from Argentina and I need GINI data, all of which I can get a hand on. I read the following:
You are correct.
Equality [not the level] of income is commonly quantified [measured by a number] using the Lorenz curve/distribution. In economics this measurement is called the GINI index.
The values range from 1.00, which indicates perfect inequality of income, i.e. one person gets it all and everyone else has none, to 0.00, which indicates everyone gets the same.
The lowest U.S. GINI index [most equal income] was 0.351 in 1957. In 1994, it was 0.426 with an increasingly steep trend line. This is significant because the GINI index is highly correlated with quality of life factors such as murder, robbery, burglary, death and suicide rates. This holds true not only between/among cash economy countries but also between American states and major metro statistical areas.
The United States currently has the highest GINI index of any of the OECD countries (and is rapidly increasing their lead). As the GINI index increases to the values seen in countries such as Columbia and Brasil, we should expect to see street crimes and home invasions increase to comparable levels. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis tracks the GINI index as well as the World Bank. Less developed economies give mis-leading results because these tend to be non-cash economies with considerable subsistence and/or underground economic activity, i.e. the farmer consumes most of what he grows, so this does not show up as income.
If anyone is interested I will be pleased to email you US and world GINI data with trend lines and other statistical data in xls format.
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If anyone could help, I would be grateful.
thanks Juan Manuel Otero