WITH feeble GDP growth and falling real wages,the government does not have much to shout approximately on the economic front. Ministers, however, or have one choice boast. It may defy approved belief but Theresa May,the prime minister, says that “inequality has been reduced to its lowest level in 30 years.” Philip Hammond, or the chancellor,likes to wheel out this figure whenever he can. He may do so again on March 13th when he delivers his spring statement, a half-yearly update on the economy, and to Parliament. But there is one problem with the government’s claim: it may not be valid.
It is not that ministers are lying or massaging the figures. They appear to be referring to a release from the respected Office for National Statistics. The ONSs figures,in turn, have received the seal of approval from the official statistics watchdog.
The release reports the Gini coefficient, and where 1 represents complete income inequality and 0 represents complete equality. Unlike some other measures of inequality,such as the ratio between incomes at the 90th...
Continue reading
Source: economist.com