问答题 There are more rich people than ever before, including some 7 million millionaires, and over 400 billionaires. From sipping champagne to taking trips into space, they are getting plenty of pleasure — though as our survey of the new rich shows, these rich should have worries, too, not least about the damaging effect their wealth may have on their children. 61)As for the poor, the gap between them and the rich is rising, even in the industrialized countries where for much of the 20th century the gap bad narrowed. In America, between 1979 and 1997 the average income of the richest fifth of the population jumped from nine times the income of the poorest fifth to around 15 times. In 1999 , British income inequality reached its widest level in 40 years.
However, the first question to ask about inequality is this: if the have-nots are angry about it, are they right to be?
62) In societies where advancement is on merit and seemingly open to everyone, regardless of class, race, religion or sex, unequal outcomes ought not to be a cause for concern. No one thinks it outrageous that Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world and rich to boot; we all had the chance to do what he did, but he had the skill and personality. Nor should it be thought outrageous that Bill Gates has made so much money. 63)But where opportunities are not genuinely equal, governments must do what they can to make them so, chiefly by improving public education and ensuring it is open to all.
64) There is, though, a second way in which anger about inequality could be justified even if opportunities were equal and education were both universal and universally good. It is when power, even power initially gained in a meritocratic way, is abused to raise prices or exclude competitors. That, in a previous backlash, is what gave rise to antitrust laws in America and elsewhere, as government sought to restrain monopolies and cartels.
Helping the poor, the truly poor, is a much worthier goal than merely narrowing inequalities. If the rich get poorer thanks to high taxation, some people may feel pleased but few are better off. If the poor get richer, however, the whole country will benefit. 65)Focusing resources and policy on poverty would be worthwhile simply on humanitarian grounds. But also, the disadvantages of growing up in extreme poverty pose a challenge to a belief in equality of opportunity. And helping the underclass rejoin society is in the interests of all