Monday, November 06, 2006

China - Riches and Poverty

Reported in the Herald to-day , a study by the World Bank of the Chinese economy .

Richest 10% own 45% of the wealth
Bottom 10% own 1.5% of the wealth

The poorest 10% have suffered a decline of 2% in income
The richest 10% enjoyed an increase of 15% in income

135 million people live on less than $1 a day
500 million people live on less than $2 a day

"A lot of people say growth floats all boats, the rich get richer but the poor get lifted out of poverty, so everything is fine...The rising tide theory seems to no longer hold. That is quite problematic." - Bert Hofman, chief of the World Bank's economics unit in Beijing .

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