Gini and Maslow clash with Mao

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-061014.html



Gini and Maslow clash with Mao
By Chan Akya
Oct 6, '14

What is driving the stunning eruption of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong? Normally it is described as a peaceful city where the locals focus on two major pastimes, namely horse-racing and property speculation; the eruption of pro-democracy protests that have encircled key government offices in the main business district came as a shock even to long-term residents.

~snip~

From my vantage point, it does appear that rising income inequality and a general improvement in quality of living have both contributed to a social impetus towards greater articulation of aspirational needs.

Let us take rising income inequality first. The widely observed (but hardly infallible) Gini coefficient indicates a nation's income distribution from zero (complete equality) - to 1 - (which means all the country's income goes to one single person). [1] The Gini coefficient for Hong Kong went from 0.43 in the 1970s to a stunning 0.54 by 2011. [2]

For context, the Gini coefficient for both the United States and China is around 0.43 before taxes; that for the US after taxes is around 0.35. Considering the generally low rate of taxation in Hong Kong for personal income, as well as the tax-free nature of many income streams, including capital gains, it is likely that the post-tax Gini for Hong Kong would still be above 0.5.