Schmitt John
Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, DC, USA.
Int J Health Serv. 2005;35(4):655-73. doi: 10.2190/742C-NWPQ-N7RD-3H9V.
By most measures, the United States is the most unequal of the world's advanced capitalist economies, and inequality has increased substantially over the past 30 years. This article documents trends in the inequality of three key economic distributions--hourly earnings, annual incomes, and net wealth--and relates these developments to changes in economic and social policy over the past three decades. The primary cause of high and rising inequality is the systematic erosion of the bargaining power of lower- and middle-income workers relative to their employers, reflected in the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage, the decline in unions, widescale deregulation of industries such as airlines and trucking, the privatization and outsourcing of many state and local government activities, increasing international competition, and periods of restrictive macroeconomic policy.
从大多数指标来看，美国是世界上发达资本主义经济体中不平等程度最高的国家，且不平等在过去30年里大幅加剧。本文记录了三种关键经济分配——时薪、年收入和净财富——的不平等趋势，并将这些发展情况与过去三十年经济和社会政策的变化联系起来。不平等程度居高不下且不断加剧的主要原因是中低收入工人相对于雇主的议价能力遭到系统性削弱，这体现在最低工资实际价值的下降、工会势力的减弱、航空和货运等行业的大规模放松管制、许多州和地方政府活动的私有化和外包、国际竞争的加剧以及宏观经济政策紧缩时期。
