What Is The Most Equal Country on Earth?

Income and wealth inequality are two of the most debate issues in the world of economics. In this video we look at some of the most equal countries in the world to see what they are doing right
0:00 - 2:05 Intro
2:06 - 4:30 Gini coefficient
4:31 - 6:15 Iceland
6:16 - 8:16 Government transfers
8:17 - 10:00 Laffer curve
10:01 - 15:00 Wealth inequality
15:01 Australia
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[@dsolis7532]

I would love a video about the “best country to be poor” meaning the country where the bottom 10% of the population does comparatively best than other countries

[@dipanjanghosal1662]

yeah that would be interesting

[@johnsmith-cw3wo]

@@dipanjanghosal1662 US is the best to be poor... so you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and stop be poor.

[@Hochspitz]

I would hazard a guess that it would also be Australia! At 72 years old, with ONLY the government old age pension, which is actually quite a bit below the poverty line to live off, life is a bit tough. BUT if I need an ambulance, costly hospitalisation, medical procedures etc, it won't cost me a cent. I do have some medical issues and the medication I have to take is heavily subsidised so they only cost me about $21 per month. So yeah, I reckon I live in the "lucky country" spiders, snakes notwithstanding😊

[@JakeSmith-jy1kx]

Except that no country wants to top that list. Your gut reaction might be, “those are the countries that take care of every citizen, even the poor,” but the “take care” part means that the opportunity cost is preferring short term goals over long term investments. Don’t get me wrong, governments should help the poor, but “most helpful” isn’t necessarily better and “too helpful” certainly is possible.

[@SeeAndDreamify]

@@JakeSmith-jy1kx Topping this stat wouldn't necessarily mean lots of welfare payments. 10% is a pretty large chunk of the population, so making sure less than that is actually poor would improve the stat immensely. Imagine if half of that 10% were gainfully employed with decent pay, they would completely dominate the average of the 10% even if the other half was starving.

[@valmarusic2339]

Finally someone didn't confuse Slovenia and Slovakia. Very nice video)

[@tuseroni6085]

they both sound like places with vampires.

[@valmarusic2339]

@@tuseroni6085 noo I promise we don't drink blood over here

[@firenter]

They shouldn't have picked such similar names then when they're so geographically close, same with Latvia and Lithuania, can you be more confusing?

[@amirattamimi8765]

​@@tuseroni6085that Romania

[@BalkanTimberMan]

Slovaks call their countries slovensko to make it even crazier

[@kirival117]

0.69 = nice. Lol! Love the little touches. You also broke down the Lorenz Curve and the Gini Coefficient more quickly and digestibly than any economics professor that I've ever had. Keep up the great stuff!

[@gronkotter]

Only one more like on this comment please.

[@drabberfrog]

Nice

[@jozefkalman8150]

Great video as always. I am actually from Slovakia and would not say that we can top list of most equal contries on earth. But from what you said in your video Slovakia does not have issues of Myanmar or other 3rd world countries. It is developed country that is part of EU, with decent standard of living of most citizens and solid indistries like for example atomotive. Would just like to hear more about why Slovakia topped both lists and why you still dont think it is worth explaining how it topped the lists.

[@elancedin7204]

you top the list of most equal because you dont have any wealth to be unequal, same here in poland

Yeah it's actually very surprising to me that this video doesn't try to unpack what's behind the perceived equality of "Eastern European countries." (Or West Balkans as us locals sometimes like to call em.)

[@jozefkalman8150]

@ Don’t mistake Slovakia with Slovenia - Slovenia is west Balkan, Slovakia with Czech Republic And Poland are Central european countries But still quality of life in those countries had improve significantly since adaptation of free market economy And joining the EU, they have a good results even in HDI Or GDP per Capita figures And from my own expirience i can confirm that Slovakia is a really good place to live Or work in Or do the Business.

[@jansafar3540]

It's because the 33 years of capitalism weren't enough to widen the gap yet. Combine that with high taxes and an extensive welfare state, and you have your answer.

[@j.roslav4090]

We have one of the highest rates of home ownership worldwide (5th). That smoothens out the differences between people with savings, investments, etc. and people without when computing the index.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Income / wealth inequality is an important measure but ultimately , more importantly is how well the middle and low income are doing. Using nominal numbers to illustrate, it’s better to be a poor person that has $10,000 (adjusted to Purchsing power) in a country with high income inequality than to be a poor person with $2,000 (adjusted for purchasing power) in a country with low income inequality.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

You rightly mentioned "purchasing power" twice. But you should have bumped that up to prime #1 importance. The only thing that matters is how much of each kind of goods and services you can get in exchange for your labor, and making THAT fair and equal. Forget about the $ amount.

[@jamesedwards7237]

Ye looking at the ppp income of someone is very crude. For example an American poor person might earn more but after health insurance costs have less. I live in Vietnam right now and one way in which people are poorer is they have motorbikes not cars (which cost £200-£1500 and a third the fuel consumption). Having and affording a car would technically make people richer, but It wouldn't increase most people's quality of life.

[@Countcho]

Incorrect. Ya’ll are too stupid to understand the differences in average IQ among populations and how that results in how much money they make in life

[@theBear89451]

Purchasing power? Once you get bellow $2K, it is all about Maslow's needs. Hunter gather societies are the most equal, where everyone shares the kill and collection.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@Countcho if the terrible argument you made was entirely accurate, then every country would have the exact same inequality. No one is claiming that GINI should be 1.0.

[@ChronologicalLogic]

Ok, legitimately, this has been the most educational video you have released in a long while, and I loved every bit of it. Others were/are mostly informative, with educational components sprinkled in between, but this one has a very strong mix of both. Once again, I really enjoyed this, thank you. p.s.: I am not in the habit of donating, but I think this video deserves it.

[@gtbkts]

I agree with your statement.

[@casper0165ful]

Agreed, the explanation of GINI was very well executed

[@philv2529]

What's with your comment being highlighted in green?

[@biswarupdas1861]

@@philv2529 He donated money to the channel. You can see on the top left of the comment, "CA $5.00".

[@Harpua1971]

@@biswarupdas1861 Canadian money isn't real money

[@turgeliolankytoja]

"It's not worth making everyone equal in an economy if everyone is equally miserable" - love it!

[@Sunila2010]

As a teacher, I love the way your videos explain key concepts so simply and with great visuals. Good job!

[@manofausagain]

Shame they dont last 40 mins? Haha.

[@jacobmaxwell5920]

@@manofausagain Nah I'd say perfect length. Short enough to teach an idea, allow 15 minutes for discussion, 20 minutes for quite reflection, and 55 minutes of you being a student favorite teacher

[@jasonkatsambiris1076]

Australia also has a job market where you can feasibly become a high income earner without going to University and taking on large student loans, mining and trades jobs for example. Of course these exist everywhere. But the barrier to earning a high income feels lower here and is based on work ethic as much as qualifications.

[@jt1559]

Also in Australia, you can more easily work your up by learning on the job and experience. I work in data and I have a colleague who is 35-40 and didn't finish high school, yet he's a senior manager earning well over $100k. My partner who is American said he'd never be in this position in the US, as he doesn't have the qualifications.

[@drscopeify]

@@jt1559 It depends where in the USA and what type of companies for example in a city full of university educated tech workers and large percent of the tech companies in the medical or military fields there will be competition and high requirements for example in Boston (medical tech) or Salt Lake City (military tech) but here in Seattle I don't know anyone in IT who has a degree at all, the IT director who is my manager for the last 10 years was in the past a truck driver!!! Yes he was a truck driver and now he probably makes like $200k+ a year, and in my circle of friends maybe 10 people or so in IT none of them have a degree , but funny enough at least 2 of my friends their wives have degrees and they work in education making pretty low salary.

[@ovibiswas7849]

@@jt1559 what a joke austrelia hahahahah

[@dean19641000]

Yes I live in Sydney we do have hidden provety I work as a chef have been for over 30s lots of small restaurants and also small companies expolt over seas students and migrants ander pay the staff if you ever come to Sydney y want find meny Australians working in hospitality

[@Funkteon]

@@drscopeify That's because those tech-centric cities in the US have created a microeconomy of citizenry that demand high wages due to the ridiculous debts they have in combination with the ridiculously high living costs in places like Silicon Valley etc. Whereas here in Australia, even if you live in the biggest cities in the country, you're still not having to compete against a gazillion desperate university students and the rent is still very reasonable if you don't insist on living in some Patrick Bateman level apartment.

[@tradicted]

I was a backpacker in Australia. Its an amazing country. Only thing thats annoying are all the restrictions and high prices on anything thats fun :D.

[@SSchithFoo]

And drop bears

[@godfreytomlinson2282]

Yeah it's certainly not a "free country" anymore

[@fcw2bom]

Australia can have as many economic advantages as it wants, it's still objectively a god-forsaken hellscape because of the wildlife.

[@Willow4526]

What restrictions, no guns??? High prices on what fun activities, fire works & drugs???, This comment makes literally no sense.

[@TheNLSuperGames]

Exactly those things :) and beer as well. All very expensive

[@borisbs3731]

Sooo, when are we getting a video on Slovakia?

[@samuelbuzek9321]

Yes, please make it happen

[@AlphaPreyPlays]

As an Australian, it's pretty amazing that I feel the biggest obstacle to becoming wealthy is my own drive and determination. Many people know roughly how to get a well paying job, but people here also want to balance their personal lives and goals and won't just pick whatever pays the most. For example, it's a poor secret that tradesmen get paid some of the highest wages in the country, similar to doctors and bankers. Most people here would be able to complete an apprenticeship if they so wish, with training heavily subsidised by the goverment. And yet we have had a trades shortage for years, mostly because people are able and willing to choose other careers. Which I believe is a good problem to have.

[@zachweyrauch2988]

In Canada alot of people think we have the same problem. Its not the case. Trades are a great example of how economics cant quantify gatekeeping as a profit motive tactic. (impossible to comprehend that a person might choose more control of a smaller market than a small part of a large market) Trades in canada require apprenticeship with another already accomplished tradesperson. That means effectively we are asking people to train their competition. This is problematic for us, not sure how things are in australia, but despite the lack of tradespeople in my area there are not epople lining up to take the work.

[@CarsonRH]

If I have to spend years learning about my field before I can practice on my own, I may as well go to college, and depending on the field, be able to bend down and pick something up normally after retirement. Tldr(I didn't make sense): The accelerated wear on your body is not worth it.

[@InnuendoXP]

The main downside to pursuing the path of a tradesperson is most trades are physically strenuous & most people's bodies have an expiry date for that sort of work. Not everyone can become the business owner, so for many people, it's only a realistic option for a few decades at most before their bodies wear out, but they'll usually have another few decades of life left

[@TevelDrinkwater]

​@@zachweyrauch2988 the limitation on trades training, at least in BC, is largely vocational training, at least in my experience. I've heard horror stories from tradesmen in construction that will readily take on apprentices, but lay them off as they get more expensive (the pay rate for apprenticeships increases as they progress). Likewise, there are limited spots available at BCIT and other vocational institutions.

[@zachweyrauch2988]

@@InnuendoXP that would make sense if there werent plenty of people signing up to lift boxes. There is some value missing in the amount of effort required of being a tradesperson and for some reason similarly manual labour strenuous jobs retain their (very low)value.

[@andrasbeke3012]

I'd be super interested to see a series on rating fringe economics. Things most people have never heard about like Anarcho-Communism or Corporatism. I generally only hear about these from people that love them or hate them. I'd love to hear opinions from real economists on how viable they are

[@_Wombat]

the answer is most likely, not viable at all. But I'm not an economist.

[@andrasbeke3012]

@@_Wombat Well sure some are wackier than others, but Technocracy, Corporatism, State Capitalism and other "unusual" economic systems have seen at least some success in the past

[@BVasquezp]

As the scale of the society becomes extreme, fringe economies start to look viable. Communism is easier the smaller the community is. Free market looks more achievable as the market grows.

[@andrewjensen8189]

The larger the scale of the economy, the less likely you can rely on fringe economic systems. Notice anything about the most equal countries on the GIni coefficient? They are all small countries; who can actually prosper more from fringe economic systems, because it is easier to get the necessary public buy-in in a country of 5 million, than it is in a country of 300 million. Population homogeneity is also a influential factor.

[@almogz9486]

He literally made one such video

[@juancruzciacci1262]

Many people don't understand that poverty is the problem. If earning 100 is enough to live a comfortable life, it doesn't matter if there are people who earn 300 and others that earn 1000 or 2000 as long as everyone has 100 to live. (100 is an arbitrary number and it does not correspond to an actual currency) Inequality doesn't matter if we all live well. Equality means nothing if we are all poor.

[@fn-ix]

Inequality matters because money is power and high inequality is ultimately damaging to democracy. Yes, absolute equality forced by an undemocratic, authoritarian state like in the former USSR didn’t make anyone happy. But oligarchic market systems where average workers are at the behest of the super-rich and large corporations, even if they are not materially destitute, are little better. Life is not just about material survival, but dignity and self-actualization, and I’d argue social-democratic states that combine market freedoms with strong worker rights and welfare states enable the most individual freedom for the most people.

[@wayback2262]

This was one of my favourite videos from you in a while. I feel like you explained a lot of core concepts very while which are also very transferable for casual(ish) conversation. Thanks

[@weil9525]

We want equal (or similar) "opportunities" to be able to move up the social ladder--thru education, career, investments, etc. Some people are born with a silver spoons, and some are born with disabilities and families with little wealth. Human beings need to see "hope". So having the opportunities is the key.

[@geoffkelly8160]

Its amazing to see how your channel has grown over the past year or so. I always seem to enjoy your content, So do over 2 million people now! wow.

[@ignoreance]

Excellent video, so thanks. I spent most of my 30 years on this planet studying stem fields, so this type of well-explained, dense format is perfect for introducing some basic principles which go a long way. Thanks!

[@sebastianmorales9787]

This channel is unreally good. Topics that are sometimes extremely hard to teach, showed in a very reachable (and followable) way, without avoiding its intricacies. Thank you and congrats on such a great work!

[@yashashgc3488]

I disagree. If you notice this pattern. He never says anything concrete except the problem and tells various factors which could affect it. That’s it.

[@paavoilves5416]

@@yashashgc3488 What do you want him to say?

[@sk8_bort]

@@yashashgc3488 yeah there are many fringe economics channels out there. If you want to communicate economics in the most objective and unbiased way possible, then you can't really take sides all the time. Instead, you present the data, explain it, mention that you personally lean slightly towards one or the other side and then let your audience do the rest.

[@lukesames7465]

Even though I see your biase slip through every once in a while, you seem to be very good at providing objective commentary and back it with numbers. I love watching because it helps me reveal and challenge my own biases.

[@IslandHermit]

The primary problem with wealth inequality is the inequality in political power that goes with it. Wealthy people don't even have to spend any of their wealth to influence policy decisions, they simply need to threaten to support the opposition if the government doesn't doesn't do as they ask. And what do the wealthy do with their political clout? Usually it's to push for policies that deepen inequality, creating a vicious circle. One place in particular where a wealth tax is desperately needed is in real estate. By taxing land holdings above some modest cutoff value, we could all but eliminate the speculators who squat on empty commercial and residential properties, waiting for their prices to go up. It turns out that there's something to be said for Georgism after all.

[@sykaax]

The reason why Australia is so successful is because it has a lot of wealth in terms of natural resources and a very small population, it can be more evenly divided because there are so many of them. But there are many countries in the world with such characteristics, but only Australia is so successful, we must admit that the politicians of Australia have built a great society. Australians don't lose this paradise =)

[@hkchan1339]

I'm pretty sure the Aussies would disagree if you say they had great politicians. I do suspect that the lower population size is a huge contributing factor to the high hourly wage tho.

[@TheGingey]

​@@hkchan1339 I would disagree. There's stong unions here and a history of them being stronger than they are now. One of our majory parties is majority funded by unions, hence the wages, retirement fund, time off, other benefits. Also the culture is generally more equal than for example the US and their extremely individualistic competitive culture.

[@Universalmagik369]

To be fair Australia is now fucked as the New World Order is very much well established there! So what was a great country is slowly but surely going down hill for all the poor and middle class folks only the rich will have it good in Australia in the near future, mark my words.

[@jaynemeulman8484]

politicians have not built an equal society.... the people have....we demand and support fairness as part of our national ethos...

[@jamoblair7245]

@@TheGingey the politicians are mediocre here, the people and culture ensure a great and equitable society.

[@markuhler2664]

Outstanding video! Loved how you broke down what I remember being difficult concepts 35 years ago in college.

[@sunkings5972]

Imagine that, the Ausie says Australia could be the best place for workng class people to live... couldn't agree more though! Fascinating video as always.

[@akseli1111]

It's interesting how even though gini coefficients are so simple to read and compare but the reality behind the numbers can be almost anything. For example a country with a lot of young people might look like it's very unequal in terms of wealth or income but that might just be because young adults haven't had a lot of time to accumulate wealth or land a well paid job. Also within families income is shared so that even if the numbers say someone has a very low income due to him staying at home while his wife works he might have a lot of income available for purchases and a very high standard of living. When the amount of welfare and equality in a country is already high this leads to people pursuing things they like instead of pursuing a well paid jobs since they already are economically secure. This might look like increased inequality but in reality it's just the result of people having more freedom to choose what they really like to do. This effect is only increased if the country has progressive taxation. Gini coefficient doesn't take into account factors such as time spent with family or disutility for having an unpleasant job!

[@kenoliver8913]

The Gini as a summary measure of comparative income inequality is the most widely used but for many purposes it is a long way from the best. As often, though, the measures with the best mathematical properties (that is, the most meaningful ones) tend to be very unintuitive to explain (eg the generalised entropy class) while those that can be explained easily (eg 90/10 ratio) tend to be the most misleading. The Gini is somewhere in the middle of that spectrum (the graphical method this post explains it with is the way I used to teach it BTW). As for income sharing, that is already taken care of by the use of "equivalised" income, which is designed to take exactly this into account. All the figures you see on income inequality use equivalised income. My biggest beef with this post is that our guy does not explain, in discussing the income/inequality tradeoffs, how his own personal preference (not made behind the veil of ignorance of course) for a high income/ high inequality society is at odds with the empirics - there is abundant evidence that a nation's happiness and wellbeing on a very wide range of measures is far more closely correlated with its inequality than with its income. It might have been nice if the post made some nods to the massive studies on cross-national wellbeing. Another beef is with his discussion of the Laffer curve - apart from the Laffer peak (of revenue) being theoretically much higher than the welfare peak, empiric estimates of it range from 70 cents in the dollar up - ie at rates above most real world ones, even in high tax countries.

[@akseli1111]

@@kenoliver8913 Good to know! I think it's very difficult to make an empirical model on the total effect of taxation since it also depends on how good the government is and how the long run effects work out (emigration, growth). After satisfying the basics such as security, public goods and education, it's likely that the government will only find projects that are not very efficient.

[@joseluisortegaochoa1587]

BTW, it would be a great idea if you can talk later on how some countries are managing too well not falling into recession after pandemic. Eg. Mexico's coin so far has one of the best value appreciation ratios in the last months vs many other currencies, even its US dollar exchange rate rolled back from 21 to 18 (a level not seen since 2018). Keep it up mate, I enjoy a lot your channel. Cheers.

[@Z80nerdcave]

Great visual explanation of how the GINI coefficient is calculated!

[@aroto]

Loved this video. One of the best you've made to date

[@jameswyre6480]

It might be most useful to see how larger countries show on the curves as this would even out unusual situations skewing the data due to being a small country. Of course, you are quite correct to point out how tough this is to compare and how this metric or it’s methodology can be less useful than one might hope.

[@colinbrowne281]

Would love to see this in time series data. As an Aussie who's been working for about 40yrs I've seen a radical change (deterioration) in our income and wealth inequality in my working life. I'd expect this trend is duplicated elsewhere. Would be interesting to see where different countries have ranked against each other since say 1980 to now

[@dzfz2100]

This was incredibly well explained! Marvellous educational resource!

[@GeneralPattonDO]

Thanks for the video! A great one! Out of curiosity, would you ever do a video on Belgium? I find it quite fascinating how wealthy most of the population is and, it being my homecountry, I am interested as to how some of the policies leading to that state of affairs might have a negative impact on growth more generally.

[@saintburnsy2468]

Fries come from France

[@devoker666]

His data claims Belgium is better than Australia by the way. Australia is only better than median wealth (which is skewed because Australia housing market is crazy high) and minimum wage (without purchasing power parity it is meaningless). On paper, I would have said Beglium is better off. Australia is only better at sunshine hours and beaches.

[@IxarLP]

I was pretty schocked to learn that I live in one of the most equal country on earth (income equality), though, I don't see bit that way from my view. But overall, it makes sence. PS: I live in Slovakia

[@ivani3237]

all rich people just move out from Slovakia.

[@Gemer9094]

@@ivani3237 Babiš will be moving back soon

[@jakubsevcik1392]

Fellow Slovak here, it might also be that lot of people get rich from corruption which doesn't show in statistics. I think EE mentioned it about Russia in some video

[@IxarLP]

There's a lot wrong in Slovakia but hey, Big brother could be watching

[@BikeHelmetMk2]

People measure change from a baseline, so when equality is getting worse, most people feel that it's the worst that it's ever been. That's not reality at all - it's probably just a minor dip in a roaring century of improvement. Just listen to people like Charlie Munger. He's baffled how after all this progress, people are more upset and angry than ever. He's seen nearly a century of progress on wealth and income, and the further ahead we get, the unhappier people are. That's because they're measuring from the baseline when they started, rather than looking longer term. People also do that for freedoms. At one point we had privacy - now everything is tracked by government and corporations, online. Young people and kids just kind of accept it. That's their baseline. "Why are the old kooks upset about becoming products that wealthy corporations and governments use to secure their own futures?"

[@Shannon_Vlogs]

really enjoyed your video! I love your arguments in favor of Australia. As a Canadian, I wonder where Canada sits. I can look that up, but I’d also love to hear your take on it

[@n.b.3521]

Hear hear!

[@jaf6879]

I love the video! ❤ Super nice and simple explanation of the Gini coefficient. Could you guys share your sources for the data? I tried to do a quick search online and could not get to the same values for the Gini coefficients.

[@matthewmalaker477]

I think the sound design in this video is among the best I've seen in a while. The sounds that are made in the chart animations are really nice. It also helps that this video gives an honest opinion on the issue. Honestly, Australia has a lot of things going for it and probably has the best economic policies out of the developed countries. Does it have its problems? Absolutely, but they get a lot right too.

[@eastfrisianguy]

Thank you very much for your video! I don't want to be petty, but there is an error at 16:39 : The minimum wage in Germany was raised to EUR 12 (12.83 USD according to the current conversion rate) in October 2022 🙂

[@PeloquinDavid]

The reason equality/inequality is so complex is that there are MULTIPLE dimensions to it - not all of which can even be accurately measured: think of the "wealth" of nations that takes the form of "human capital" (skills, education, health and the like) or trust and sound institutions that constitute "social capital". You also can't ignore the social dynamics over time. An unequal distribution of wealth or income at a particular point in time may have very different societal impacts if most of the wealth or income always stays within the same families or not and if there is a lot or very little social mobility over time. Lifetime incomes (or wealth accumulation) are also more equal than those at a particular point in time. And since older people often have had more time to accumulate wealth, having a big generation (think baby boomers) in that peak wealth bracket (but less and less in the peak income brackets nowadays) is going to distort the equality/inequality picture relative to lifetime inequality (and probably multi-generational inequality with even greater force) that might be better predictors of societal health overall...

[@Libertino]

Amazing video from beginning to end.

[@nathanmckenzie1633]

As someone who has always been fascinated by economics, I found this video very educational. I have always been proud to be Australian :)

[@infrared909]

For me personally there is no other country than Belgium that I would like to live in as someone from the working class. I have been working for 13 years so far and my wealth has been growing more and more every year eventhough I had some setbacks too. Yes, taxes are high here. But you can live a very good life here if you work (and don't do stupid stuff like wasting your money).

[@Libertarian1111]

A point I'd like to make is that Eastern Europe, grew after they were heavily influenced by Milton Freidman's ideas after the fall of the Soviet Union, adopted flat taxes and very low corporate taxes. While most of these nations have since switched to progressive taxes, some, most notably Estonia, have maintained their flat tax and highly competitive corporate tax system and are expanding at a rate of about 4% per year on average over the past ten years.

[@jamesedwards7237]

All of eastern Europe is growing at about 4% a year!

[@Libertarian1111]

@DoubtingThomasThat isn't really true, as most Estonian expats are returning to Estonia and most young people in recent years are remaining there as there are lots of opportunities locally. As to your first point, the disparities in Estonia between the capital Tallinn and periphery are much like western Europe.

[@Libertarian1111]

@@jamesedwards7237 True, But Estonia is one of the fastest growing of the lot(per capita growth) and the wealthiest(GDP per capita PPP)

[@dazzlebreak4458]

In my country (Bulgaria) we switched from progressive to flat tax at 10% about 15 years ago. This actually benefits high earners, because it's easier to pay 10% on a 1300 EUR salary than on 400 EUR, and VAT is 20% on almost everything. Corporate taxes are low, but companies, paying good salaries (especially international outsourcing ones) go to the big cities (mainly the capital), which deepens the income disparity - they could pay lower salaries in smaller cities and benefit from some incentives, but there aren't enough skilled people. As a result, the Gini coefficient is almost 0.4 and is on the rise in recent years. In my opinion Eastern Europe (at least the southern part) grew mostly due to the outsourcing industries and investments from international companies; those who took part benefitted the most, others who didn't - not so much.

[@andro7862]

Instead of milking meager revenues from the poor, why not lessen the tax burden on those who can barely make ends meet? Estonia is growing because it's population is highly educated, not because of ancien regime style tax policies.

[@sharika2006]

Really Great video, some things that I would have loved tho: 1. link your resources - it can be a pain to find it 2. The video is 17 minutes long but still left some things to be desired, for example when talking about the countries with the lowest wealth income inequality, it would have been super interesting to talk about the real standouts of that list, Japan and South Korea, cause these two are generally perceived as wealthy countries compared to the other countries in that list Other than that, I think this one was one of the best videos in recent times.

[@Immortal-Daiki]

This video is a good review of my Development Economics class last semester

[@eliasvandewiere8334]

If feel like Belgium was in a lot of top 10's in this video without even being mentioned. Would love a video about the very complex & high taxes in Belgium. Very fascinating with the transfers between Flandres and Wallonia.

[@MrZergswarm]

That is going to be an intersting video when he talks about stability.

[@Salaryman_]

Housing prices in Australia are hyper inflated, However I make $75k here working the same job that paid me $49k in Toronto CA. Straya ❤

[@jheden9386]

Yes, but how much more expensive is the cost of living in AUD vs CAD?

[@Salaryman_]

@@jheden9386 I think cost of living in Aus is cheaper by a lot. Only thing that is more expensive in Aus is liquor, beer and internet plans. I lived in Canada for 6 years so I’m very confident on the cost of living comparisons when you factor in difference in incomes

[@ivansurjadi7664]

Great economic video!! I wish all my economic class in my uni are like this!

[@thewiirocks]

Ah, it's so nice to get a proper EE episode again. With all the complexities and challenge and "it doesn't work the way you think it does" of real economics. Not the oversimplified (and often wrong or at least wrongheaded) information provided by the shorts.

[@nathanseper8738]

In order to have a good economy, you need to balance providing benefits for the population while not discouraging private investment and innovation.

[@MoonWeasel23]

It's been 7 years since I took macroeconomics high school, but my teacher was so passionate and competent that even after studying engineering and being an engineer without a single day devoted to "studying" economic, I still know a lot of the topics covered in these videos like the Laffer curve. It really is funny to me that so many people can't grasp what I think are relatively simple concepts and extrapolate/ combine them with the real world.

[@thiagolima4107]

I this is the best video of the channel so far. Great work

[@user-bk1ye3rl1c]

Having a wealthy population that is surprisingly concentrated in just a few small areas of a massive country has next to nothing to do with housing affordability problems when compared quite simply against the utter failure to ban rent seeking behaviours. Aside from that, very nice video. 👍

[@Korfax124]

One potential problem with the minimum wage policy factor is that some countries do not have a minimum wage set by the government. Without knowing how they might measure it there's Denmark for instance where the wage is negotiated between the worker's unions and employer's on a yearly basis. Denmark has high salaries by this system although it might make measuring for economists difficult

[@carlkolthoff5402]

Very good and interesting video! Just wanted to add a small detail about the minimum wages. Main reason the Nordic countries does not show up on the list, is because our governments don't interfere that much in the relationships between employers and employees. Instead we use "the Nordic Model" that leaves most decisions on wages and workers rights to the labour unions and their employer counterpart organisations. (A bit simplified, but:) An employer cannot pay wages beneath the levels set in the annual central bargaining agreements. In reality, the lowest wages paid here are about the same levels as the top five countries on the list.

[@rogergeyer9851]

Carl Kolthoff: As long as the system ends up working well for the vast majority of people, that's great. Government could get involved to the extent a real need arises, perhaps by tweaking regulation, etc. If wealth equality is reasonable, then a more capitalistic economy is FAR more productive over time than a highly government regulated one (look at Russia and North Korea for extreme examples).

[@nikolasgerolympos]

Great video, I m glad you mention housing in the end. The relationship between income and wealth is a very interesting and hard to track, yet very important. A lot of countries that artificially' have great metrics, also have a concentration of jobs in housing markets are make long term wealth creation extremely difficult.

[@CaspianReportDE]

Great video!

[@firenter]

As a Belgian, gotta say I'm kinda bummed you didn't pick us because we were in the top 10 of most of those lists while Aus wasn't even close xD

[@Droidman1231]

The creator is from Australia so he's perhaps biased 😂

[@dizzplaced475]

We have kangaroos. Checkmate

[@devluz]

How are house prices in Belgium? I have the feeling the median wealth by country is heavily influenced by house prices. e.g. an Australian might have built a house 30 years ago for $40k and now this house is valued at $1m. It isn't like that this person is rich ... they need to live somewhere after all but on paper they are now a millionaire (edit: typo)

[@philipcase2717]

@@devluz Yes, in Australia we have made houses unaffordable for those who are not above the typical wage. I would be interested to know if the cost of housing has been weighted effectively to conclude that Australia is the most affordable/livable country.

[@fieldo85]

Yep, as an Australian working class person, I would rather live in Belgium or any number of other countries. Everyone in Australia under 40 years old, has been locked out of housing and forced to pay debts for their educations. Birth rates are too low (no one can afford kids) and falling. I strongly suspect the creator of these videos still lives with his parents. I'm certain he doesn't have any kids.

[@juliane__]

Thanks for the insight. Seems like Australia is closer to Scandinavia then to Britain in terms of social security. But you have to admit, if you are such lucky with resources and restrain yourself with people influx, it is easy to build a relative weylthy and equal country.

[@chaosfenix]

I loved this video. I think it could have been beneficial to talk about the HDI when looking for a metric on how good the population has it.

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thank you.

[@XSpImmaLion]

Anecdotal personal experience confirms this... sorta I guess. xD Not sure if it really reflects number because this was back when I was a teen, which means this was over 20 years ago. My hometown is a Brazilian touristic city that is just not well known internationally... it's very far from the major urban centers of the country but it has one of the major global marvels of nature, one of the major engineering marvels of the world and it's a frontier city to two other nations. I'll let you find out what it is, we'll see how many people know about it. So, back over 25 years ago more or less my dad brought back home a tourist that was a bit lost in the city. He was... Australian. I didn't know enough English to talk and understand everything he was saying back then, but through my father which knew better English than I did back at the time, the guy was in his mid 20s or something, and he was explaining that he worked as a carpenter in Australia. He was explaining that after working for a few years without vacation, he decided to give himself a sabbatical year to travel around the world. And that's how he ended up in our city... he really liked nature so he was specifically targeting major natural wonders in different nations. Mind you, this was before the Internet era. Almost unthinkable these days I guess, but he was going around to see the world, not to make KZbin videos, Instagram stories or whatever. :P Of course, the jaw dropping thing for us is how someone working as a carpenter for a few years managed to make enough money to travel a full year around the world. Carpenters in Brazil barely make enough for basic necessities, let alone take a full year off to travel around the world. It was quite a clash. This is obviously anecdotal and reflects nothing, but the video made me remind of this... if you take the Australian minimum wage and convert it to our currency, it's upper class if not downright rich here. The medium wealth 200 thousand something dollars, currently with currency exchange makes you a millionaire here. xD

[@jedics1]

I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere else than Australia, although there is still room for a vast level of improvement. Our natural resources are both the gift and the curse, a major source of our wealth but its also where a lot of the corruption and abysmal policy choices stem from. Great video....

[@dannydaw59]

Real estate in the big cities is crazy expensive. That's great if you owned a place before prices went up and bad if you didn't.

[@elancedin7204]

I will watch with laughter when australia becomes openly totalitarian republic, wonder if minimum wage is enough for people to sell their freedom

[@kremepye3613]

@@elancedin7204 i agree, Australia is awesome but the government over reach into every aspect of your life snd over regulation in every single industry is over the top and oppressive. Also there is a fine for everything there.

[@crackajacka87]

I have a friend who lives in Australia and she works constantly in 3 jobs and she cant afford rent on a home. I asked why she doesn't go outside of the cities and she told me that there's nothing there so she has to live in the city. I feel far wealthier as not only can I get social housing on the cheap in the UK easily but can live comfortably outside of cities in towns with cheaper housing and this means all my bills, including food, comes to around £900 with minimum wage for full time per month being between £1,300-£1,400 and so this allows me an easy £400-£500 per month spending money, even now with inflation through the roof. There's far more to calculate than the median earned and I'd argue it should be focused on the median of excess money obtain after taxes and bills to better judge the overall wealth inequality compared to other countries but that would be far harder to calculate.

[@jedics1]

@@kremepye3613 It most certainly is over regulated, I live in Adelaide and its nick named the "nanny state" for a reason. The traffic fines are so extreme only criminals could think its reasonable, even driving conservatively and as rarely as I do I get at least one fine every year, they have cameras everywhere. One mistake and it sets me back 3 months financially they are so expensive. I turned right where you can do it "with care" some places but because the one I was at had a red right turn light it cost me $600au. CROOKS!

[@ClayPetersonClayPete]

Very excited to see the Oregon Legislature depicted at 8:20.

[@huleboermannhule44]

This is one of those things that are very hard too compare. Countries like australia has gotten help being a english speaking country situated close to asian markets, but that also comes with its own downside like very high housing costs. Another important thing to consider is the cost of goods in an economy. Having very low income inequality leeds to relative higher costs of goods as people in the supermarket gets a comparable wage to those working in the financial industry.

[@MiningTheWorldYT]

Having a mining industry (16:06) doesn't in itself guarantee prosperity for the average citizen, as evidenced by your recent DRC video. The advantage Australia has over other mineral-rich countries is that it's a stable jurisdiction with transparent mining laws, predictable taxation, security of tenure for mine owners, and well-established mining expertise that it exports to the rest of the world. If a mining company has a choice between mining a resource in Australia or another country (let's assume the two resources are identical), they will choose Australia every time. That has a massive flow-on effect into the Australian economy in terms of revenues and employment, not to mention the other sectors (finance, equipment, technology, hospitality, transport etc) that support and benefit from mining activity.

[@mhedden033]

Australia also has the advantage of being an island so they can control immigration easier. Allow more into the country when labor is needed, but have less when the distribution of taxes becomes strained.

[@adam872]

Exactly right. So long as state and federal governments don't stuff up regulation we'll have a very profitable mining industry that pours money into the coffers of governments, employees and suppliers alike.

[@appa609]

The number I want to know about a country is what fraction of their people have a home, food to eat, and people who care about them.

[@Bocekk1]

another masterpiece.. Thank you

[@jorehir]

1:25 Point is that "the pie" isn't everything that matters in life. It feels good to be rich, but it also feels good to not be poorer than your neighbor. So, inequality is likely to be a problem even if it's making people richer. That's engraved in human nature, and it can only be offset (maybe...) by an extreme scenario like the one you maliciously chose ("making 100k in an unequal country is better than making 10k in an equal country").

[@ArchusKanzaki]

I kinda remember someone said that its better working as a mining supervisor in Australia, compared to working as programmer in Australia.... Lower work demands but still pretty high salary because of the minimum wage policy. So yeah, if you want to be blue-collar workers in any Advanced Economy Countries, Australia probably best place.

[@nickvinsable3798]

🤔 . . . I remember reading an answer to a Quora question about why Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, & their neighboring cities, haven’t collapsed just like Detroit, Michigan, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, & such. Maybe do a video based, not just on these cities, but countries that actually fits that criteria & such…

[@nickvinsable3798]

Yeah! So witch countries have more diversified economies, @m3x910? THAT is the center point of the next video, maybe…

[@cenekskarda]

Thanks for showing Prague for few seconds and another great video for the family dinner ;)

[@travisteall8469]

new economics explained video just dropped and its a banger

[@rossfraser2003]

You've correctly factored in the Australian mandatory pension plan in calculating the net wealth of Australians, but have failed to do likewise for certain other countries: the Canada Pension Plan (also a mandatory national program that predates Australia's) has current net assets of $540 billion Cdn. You might also consider moving to Toronto if you are a low wage earner, as in Ontario the minimum wage is $15.50 Cdn per hour and would displace Ireland as the fifth highest minimum wage country on your list (though min. wage varies somewhat from province to province).

[@camfunme]

The values included in this video are from the World Bank, which does include the net assets in pension plans for all countries. Converting the Australian Superannuation Scheme assets to Canadian dollars results in net assets of $3.25 Trillion CAD, for a population almost half the size of Canadas, and as you've pointed out in half the accumulation time. The National minimum wage in Australia is $21.38/h AUD (admitedly only for 21+ y/o) which is currently $19.85/h CAD. That being said I know many Australian's who work half the year in Canada's ski fields, and the other half back home.

[@Arkiasis]

The list is in USD. 15.50 CAD is 11.40 USD. That's actually a major issue with Canada. For many jobs (barring tech cause the US is special for having huge tech salaries) you'll get paid roughly the same in CAD as in USD. But that makes the median Canadian 20% poorer than the median American.

[@phenom568]

Are these pension programs actually funded in theses countries. In the US we have states like Illinois which used its pension funds on other projects and is now facing bankruptcy as people start to retire. This isn't unique to Illinois btw.

[@camfunme]

​@@phenom568 Australian Superannuation is a legal requirement for your employer to pay 10.5% extra (pre-tax) of your annual salary into a superannuation fund of your choice. This could be an industry fund, which are heavilly regulated as financial institutions and are evaluated by ARPA (gov) every year. None has ever gone broke. The other main choice is to form a self-managed superannuation fund, where the risk and owness is on you for managing your finances, but it is still required to follow the same policies, e.g. such as not being able to withdraw the funds until you are over 60 (with exceptions for medical needs, etc.).

[@mitchellsnider4198]

0.69 - nice? Was not expecting that from this channel. Almost fell of my bike laughing, it caught me so off guard

[@GiantBlue1963]

So if I'm hearing this correctly, Australia is a perfect example of how balancing the profit motive of capitalism with moderating policy via socialism can yield a hybrid economy that does a better job of accomplishing all goals. What really piques my interest is why we don't hear more about it. Is Australia in this position because the policy works or because of external things that can't be counted on long term. This video demands another video that explores these issues.

[@mitchvince1400]

Love your content

[@zeddist7472]

As a Luxembourgish citizen I'd suggest doing a video on our small nation. The median wealth numbers surprised me a bit as basically everyone owning real estate here is a millionaire which makes life hard for the rest of us.

[@F12165]

Your primary residence usually does not count when calculating your net worth.

[@zeddist7472]

@@F12165 Fair enough but we have 0 inheritance tax here so many inherit expensive homes which would be included in the statistic I imagine.

[@zeddist7472]

@@thotslayer9914 why is that BS? I know there are not many of us but we do exist.

[@dominiccallaghan1176]

Living in Nice and working in Monaco as an Irishman I see the vagaries of inequality everyday. The obscene wealth of yacht owners and bankers is in stark contrast to the poverty of immigrants in Nice. As in everything we measure though, it all depends on one's perspective. I can understand the example of Australia for working class people without wanting to be working class, even in Oz. I remember the discussion on the quality of life video where Ireland did better than Switzerland and wild, wild horses couldn't make me personally choose the old sod over Geneva. Frankly the weather changes a lot and I could no sooner go back to living in the rain sodden North of Europe, than I could go to prison. The hidden advantages of kids growing up, (as in Oz), with an outdoor lifestyle and a multicultural backdrop, contributes immeasurably to the standard of life and what is actually possible. Iceland looks good on paper, as does Slovenia but nobody is looking to move to either.

[@OutOfNamesToChoose]

Oh god, the last bit of your comment hits close to home. I'm really hoping to move out of England for that same reason. I don't want this indoor depressing lifestyle to be that of my future children.

[@NONO-hz4vo]

You make a good a point, I live in California not because I love the government here or the tax/cost of living but because it is a beautiful place to raise my kids. So many gorgeous features all a few hours away. Even the 5 acres I own is absolutely beautiful. There are a lot of places in the world that are just not going to suit most people. I also lived in the pacific northwest and loved it but for many 260+ days of cloud cover is depressing, especially in the winter when the "days" are short.

[@KingOfParrots]

You’re absolutely correct. I’m still wondering why I moved back to Scandinavia.

[@kainingcui3309]

Thanks for the video. I think these measures are all very objective in a way, but we do have to consider that each country is unique and different in its own ways in terms of history, culture, religion, political systems and much more, and in many cases these factors can be the ones causing/influencing income/wealth inequality in the first place. Personally I'm not too fond of the question, would you rather be a xxx living in xxx country or xxx country, but very interesting video

[@itstisguy1456]

I'm South African, and couldn't agree more bud... Great video love the research that you've done!

[@ludvig2733]

Would be interesting with a video about Denmark. With focus on Maersk in particular. They just had the largest yearly-profit of any company in Denmarks history. I would love to know more about them and Denmarks economy as a whole. Love the very informative videos :)

[@travisbrewer5391]

The problem isn’t so much the inequality, it’s that so many don’t have a reasonable expectation that their income will be enough to live on. And the conclusion that is made (correct or not) that the reason the expectation is unreasonable is because of the inequality. If my wage of $15/hr was enough to cover rent, utilities, food, clothing, hygiene, non-emergency health care (w/o insurance) and retirement savings, I wouldn’t have any problem with Elon Musk getting $5,000/hr. But to make ends meet I have to split the rent and utilities with a roommate, and my employer pays for an insurance policy for ALL healthcare. Forcing me to live like that while someone else is making $5k/hr is a lot harder to justify.

[@gimballock2084]

But Elon Musk is presumably not stealing from you. So if he stopped making that much, you would just feel better, or what? What would you gain from him not earning that?

[@theBear89451]

@@gimballock2084 Yes, it would satisfy people's envy.

[@ikhbjhbkm5]

Most households have two incomes these days. You're at a severe disadvantage if you do not. Two incomes is the norm and prices will stabilize around this level. Like it or not. A single person, unless way above average is going to be way below average.

[@hkchan1339]

Elon didn't steal from you, there is no need to hate the rich. It's the government who refuse to set up systems to help ensure a livable wage because they are owned by lobbyists that are stealing from you

[@eat_ze_bugs]

@@gimballock2084 Elon is stealing from the tax payer, legally.

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

When neural implants to get instant degrees? Very much needed my friend. Do have important political debates to win.

[@yutubl]

Thank you very much for this eye opening charts! I'm shocked missing germany in your top 10 equality gini charts, I would have bet a round/box of beer that germany appears not below 5th rank. I really didn't expect living in a so unequal country, only your last chart (highest minimum wage countriey) might save me.

[@brandond.7768]

Philosophically, while technology and innovation was pushed 'largely', that isn't to say in the equality system you would have no innovation. Artist are still gonna art, scientists will still science. We may not have 15 different types of bottled water in our markets, but that is not to say we would have no bottled water in the markets. That said, I do like the video where you described the two different economic philosophies; one where the bottoms are buffered by tempering the peak times and the ones where there is no cap to the peak but no cap to the bottom. When you give videos on this I like to remember back to that video in comparison to the rest.

[@missk1697]

Exactly, just compare USSR to Russian Empire. From wodden plow to nuclear ICBMs.

[@GaretZaugg]

American here. A married buddy of mine with 4 kids recently turned down a promotion at his job because the pay increase would bump him up to a higher tax bracket and make him ineligible for certain social welfare benefits.

[@grissee]

very dystopian

[@szaszm_]

Does he know that the higher tax rate only applies to the income above the threshold? So if one is making 110k and the rates are 15% below 100k and 30% above 100k, then they're paying 15% of 100k + 30% of 10k. That of course doesn't account for the lost welfare benefits, that could very well be a real problem.

[@NONO-hz4vo]

Most likely he isn't very good at math. Unless he is on some very high assistance welfare and the promotion is small he is probably making a mistake.

[@TumblinWeeds]

On top of what everyone’s already said, getting that promotion will likely help with job flexibility, stability, and income long term, since one promotion precedes the next, and eventually it will outweigh welfare. Companies are unlikely to ever offer huge pay spikes but promotions add up over time, and higher positions are at lower risk of mass layoffs. Turning down all opportunities will ultimately keep you stuck.

[@youngstown8941]

One larger problem is, that inequality does and doesn´t break down by country. Your wage, wealth and cost of living are determined by it (but also by what status your family had and you have there), but your country´s whole economy might be tilted historically toward either being served by or in service of other countries´ economies. A country might even find itself in a "middle position", both serving economies above it and being served by yet less powerful countries. With such a pyramid of wealth extraction in mind, it´s yet more difficult to think about equality.

[@duncanmarks1590]

Hi From an engineering point of view, i.e.2+2=4. a very flexible presentation particularly in relation to input and output of the equations you use. A bias comment on my part as I believe that Economist analysis, particularly in reference to the time limits of a KZbin post, focus on mathematical modeling with out including the local social and political issues in relation to the relatively short time period of the analysis. Yes very "tricky" to balance balance social issues with increasing GDP but i am an sure there are comments on this prior to the Egyptian Empire. But on a presentation point a good presentation which was clearly aimed to be an introduction level . bye

[@cnasir3475]

One of the biggest problems we have as a society is thinking equality is good and natural. It’s neither necessary good nor natural. The goal should be connecting people’s needs together, so for example if I want to be billionaire I actually have to create something that gives million people value of more than thousand dollars. In another word “Capitalism” real capitalism not one governments hand out billions to billionaires.

[@skandinaviskman]

Several countries, e.g. Sweden doesn't have a minimum wage by law. So how do you manage those in the comparison?

[@GAGONMYCOREY]

Sweden has sectorial bargaining... it doesn't have a *legal* minimum wage but it is done by sectorial bargaining. Its just non govt entities negotiating pay/benefits per industry.

[@theBear89451]

Minimum wage is obsolete. The correlations stated in the video are from historical, not present economics.

[@Chris-nj6qx]

Exactly! I know Denmark in practice has a minimum wage of about 18$/h for adults

[@ChineseKiwi]

​@@theBear89451 it really isn't as productivity has far outstripped wages.

[@TheSwedishHistorian]

it has in practice

[@marcello234]

I know ALL about the Laffer Curve - I learnt it when watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off

[@mwalmsley72]

But the Spiders 😂 Excellent video as always…clearly and concisely explained

[@Paulkjoss]

New Zealand is pretty close to Aussie in just about every way, so we’ll take that as a win for us too mate - cheers 👍🏽

[@budawang77]

Ok, but we get to keep pavlova.

[@NONO-hz4vo]

I lived in Japan and thought about moving to either NZ or AUS, but I had heard that both governments are pretty restrictive. As an actual resident what are your thoughts?

[@adam872]

Wow, the first time I've heard anything positive about the author's (and my) home country. By nearly any measure, life is very good here. Doesn't mean it couldn't be better, but I'd rather live here than anywhere else (and I've lived and worked in other countries).

[@mrb152]

Based on what I have seen of Australia in the past three years it is at the bottom of the list of places I’d ever want to live. But I also don’t need government handouts to get by so that doesn’t factor in for me.

[@adam872]

@@mrb152 what makes you say that (being bottom of the list?). Is it because you've lived here over that three year period or because of government policy or some other reason?

[@jgagnier]

1. What a fantastic piece of economic vulgarisation, even by your high standards 🤘 2. Australia is a nice place to live because of its high minimum wage; someone REALLY wants to boost engagement.

[@JDVRadio]

I see where you are going with this and i am 100% here for iiiiit

[@dantesk1836]

How could we determine the country with the lowest quality of life inequality (I guess above a certain threshold)?

[@XxOriginalxX1]

Just a little Update Germany's minimum wage right now is about 12,84$ .

[@jrodartec]

This was hands down one of the most complete, informative and intellectually honest videos I have ever seen on this topic. You turned it into a truly easy-to-grasp Economics class, instead of filling it up with a lot a leftist/right-winger propaganda. Thanks for that amazing content. And would agree with Australia, but also with Netherlands despite being #1 on Wealth Innequality due to mortgages and very old and financially solid families.

[@parkmannate4154]

Wealth inequality is why I favour strong and high inheritance taxes on full estates. Gifts and family trusts taxes at same high rate. Thats how you break up wealth inequality and why the first tax ever passed after independence in the US was a huge inheritance tax. The original principle was its fine to be rich if you earn it, and my personal opinion still hits that.

[@parkmannate4154]

To follow on, the Forbes 400 has a handful of tech bros and people who inherited their money. What did 36 year old Lukas Walton do or create to earn his 8th richest person in the US fortune? Be born right, thats it