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Comment by mchusma | Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure you read the article, because you make some of the same points I do.

"There is massive income inequality. Its trajectory isn't nearly as large of an issue as the status quo, which is pretty dismal." The point of the article is that inequality is itself isn't a good metric.

"The right thing to do is to keep working to solve the core problem....Maybe even consider doing what Switzerland is considering, and give everyone (rich and poor) a reasonable guaranteed income as an alternative to expensive and sometimes ineffective welfare program" -I suggest this briefly as my preferred solution.

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I read the article and recognize your closing arguments are much more nuanced than the thesis of the article suggests. I apologize for not making that clear in my post.

I still feel the overall point attacking the statistics of income inequality is much more likely to be used as a gavel to silence those working to improve the status quo. Articles like this are often cited when people try to take action to correct income inequality, regardless of what the article ultimately advocates.

That said, I do think its important to get the statistics correct. I don't think you said anything wrong (except maybe with your definition of gini, as others have noted). Your headline is a bit salacious, but ultimately my concern is how this article might be used by others.

Thanks again. I did fix the Gini issue, which was my fault in trying to get something posted without sufficient editing.

I was surprised by how confusing the statistics were about the trend of income disparity. How the numbers varied widely by source, and how much definitions mattered. I think we both agree that the trend of this is not important.

I'm not sure if we agree or disagree on whether relative status is important or not. I would argue it is not important, except to the extent someone else pointed out that it provides political influence (which I do think I have a solution for). I prefer to look at absolute measures of improving the standard of living (life expectancy, health, food, entertainment, etc).

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