評論
打印
Rising Economic Polarization in the United States: Truth and Facts
美國貧富分化持續惡化的事實真相
February 2023
2023年2月
Contents
目錄
Introduction
引言
I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States
一、美國貧富分化狀況持續惡化
II. Multiple Factors Driving U.S. Economic Polarization
二、多重因素助推美國貧富分化加劇
III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society
三、貧富分化加劇給美國社會帶來嚴重消極影響
Conclusion
結束語
Introduction
引言
Being the largest economy in the world, the United States is also the most economically polarized among Western countries. It has long been stuck in the conundrum where the rich get richer and the poor become poorer. Since the onset of COVID-19, the United States has adopted massive fiscal and financial stimulus measures. However, these measures fail to address the fundamental difficulties facing the have-nots, but rather offer billionaires a chance to expand their wealth. Economic inequality has become even more prominent.
美國既是世界第一大經濟體，也是貧富分化最為嚴重的西方國家，長期走不出富者愈富、貧者愈貧的困局。新冠疫情暴發以來，美國采取大規模財政金融刺激措施，不僅沒有從根本上幫助窮者紓困，反而助力億萬富翁借機擴大財富，貧富差距更為懸殊。
Through facts and figures, this report aims to reveal the current state of wealth disparity in the United States, the entrenched political and social causes behind it, and the implications of the problem.
本報告旨在通過列舉事實和數據，揭示美國貧富分化的現狀、問題積重難返的政治和社會原因以及造成的影響。
I. Deterioration of Economic Polarization in the United States
一、美國貧富分化狀況持續惡化
Since the 1970s, income inequality and wealth disparity in the United States have continually deepened. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class is squeezed. Today, these perilous trends continue.
20世紀70年代以來，美國收入不平等和財富懸殊程度日益加深，出現“富者愈富、貧者愈貧”和“中產階級遭擠壓”的嚴重現象，這一趨勢至今仍在延續。
The Gini coefficient, which measures inequality in income distribution, has kept rising in the United States. According to the World Bank, the U.S. Gini coefficient has gone up from 0.353 in 1974 to 0.415 in 2019, exceeding the alarming level at 0.4 indicating a large income gap. During the same period, other developed countries have largely kept their Gini coefficient below 0.35, or even 0.3 in some cases.
反映收入分配差距的基尼系數不斷攀升。據世界銀行統計，1974年美國的基尼系數為0.353，到2019年已升至0.415，超過貧富差距過大（大于0.4）的警戒水平。同期其他發達國家基尼系數基本都在0.35，甚至0.3以下。
In the United States, the wealthy population have enjoyed much faster income growth than the low-income group. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1970 and 2020, the average income of the top fifth of families increased by 182 percent to 253,000 U.S. dollars, while the middle-income households and the bottom fifth saw their average incomes grow by just 133 percent to 72,000 dollars and 113 percent to 15,000 dollars respectively. In 1975, the average income of the top fifth was 10.3 times that of the bottom fifth. The gap widened to 17.4 times by 2020.
美國富裕群體的收入增速遠高于低收入群體。據美國人口普查局數據，1970年以來，收入前五分之一家庭的平均收入增長182%，到2020年達25.3萬美元，而中等收入和收入后五分之一家庭的平均收入僅增長133%和113%，到2020年僅為7.2萬美元和1.5萬美元。1975年，收入前五分之一家庭的平均收入是后五分之一家庭平均收入的10.3倍，到2020年升至17.4倍。
The share of national income held by upper-income households has risen markedly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the income shares of the top fifth and top 5 percent have both been climbing. Standing at 43.3 percent and 16.6 percent respectively in 1970, their shares rose to 52.2 percent and 23.0 percent in 2020. In the meantime, the shares held by middle- and low-income households have both declined. The share of the middle-income group dropped from 52.7 percent in 1970 to 44.7 percent in 2020, and that of the low-income group in the bottom fifth fell from 4.1 percent to 3 percent. Since 1993, the income share of middle-income families, who make up 60 percent of total households, has remained lower than that of the top fifth, and is becoming increasingly disproportionate.
富裕群體收入占全社會總收入的比例顯著上升。美國人口普查局數據顯示，無論是收入前五分之一還是最高5%群組，其家庭收入占全社會總收入的比例都呈上升趨勢。1970年相關比例分別為43.3%和16.6%，2020年已升至52.2%和23.0%。中間階層和低收入群組的占比均有所下降。中間階層收入占比從1970年的52.7%降至2020年的44.7%，收入后五分之一的低收入群組的收入占比則從4.1%降至3%。1993年以來，占總家庭數60%的中間階層家庭的收入占比始終低于前五分之一的群組，并日益失衡。
The income share of the ultra-rich has reached its highest level since World War II. According to the World Wealth and Income Database, after an initial fall in the early 20th century, the income share of the ultra-rich, or the top 1 percent, in the United States had kept rising, and hit 22.3 percent in 1928. After World War II, a prevailing call for equal opportunity and economic equality, along with the introduction of economic systems such as progressive tax, inheritance tax, strong trade unions and financial regulation, helped restrain the concentration of wealth. By 1970, the income share of the top 1 percent had fallen to 10.7 percent. But it has since risen gradually, and reached 19.1 percent by 2021, almost doubled in 50 years.
超級富豪的收入占比水平創下戰后新高。世界財富與收入數據庫顯示，20世紀初以來，美國前1%超級富豪的收入占比經歷了先降后升。1928年這一比例一度高達22.3%，二戰后隨著機會平等、經濟平等價值理念的發展，累進稅、遺產稅、強勢工會和金融管制等經濟制度抑制了財富集中，到1970年1%超級富豪的收入占全社會總收入的比例降至10.7%。此后這一比例逐步升高，到2021年已升至19.1%，50年間幾乎翻了一番。
A main cause for the widening income disparity is the huge pay gap. According to Equilar, the median income of CEOs of listed companies in 2021 was 20 million dollars, up 31 percent from 2020, while that of average employees increased from around 69,000 dollars to some 72,000 dollars, up about 4 percent. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay had skyrocketed by 1,322 percent between 1978 and 2020, while typical worker compensation had risen just 18 percent.
收入差距擴大的主要原因是工資收入水平的巨大差距。據伊奎勒數據，2021年上市公司首席執行官的中位數收入達2000萬美元，較2020年增長31%。而2021年普通員工的中位數收入從2020年的6.9萬美元增至7.2萬美元，增長約4%。據美國經濟政策研究所跟蹤研究，1978年至2020年，首席執行官收入增長1322%，而同期普通員工收入僅增長18%。
The economic divide is also reflected in wealth inequality. According to Federal Reserve statistics, the richest 1 percent of U.S. households hold more than 20 percent of national household wealth, a share that has continued to grow sharply in recent years. According to Fed statistics in 2021, the top 1 percent held a record 32.3 percent of the country's wealth, up from only 23.6 percent in 1989, while the bottom 50 percent (about 63 million households) held only 2.6 percent, down from 3.7 percent in 1989.
貧富分化還體現在財富不平等上。美聯儲數據顯示，1%的最富裕家庭占有超過20%的家庭總財富，這一比例在近年來還在顯著增加。據美聯儲2021年統計，前1%家庭擁有的財富比例達到創紀錄的32.3%，而在1989年這一比例僅為23.6%；后50%家庭（約6300萬個家庭）僅擁有2.6%的財富，而在1989年這一比例為3.7%。
The middle class is shrinking. A "middle-class America" was formed in some 20 years from the end of World War II to 1970. Afterward, however, despite the continued growth of the U.S. economy, the middle class has not expanded, but shrunk significantly. The share of American adults who live in middle-income households fell from 61 percent in 1971 to 51 percent in 2019. The share in the upper-income tier rose from 14 percent to 20 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, the share in the lower-income tier increased from 25 percent to 29 percent. The size of middle-income families has continued to shrink.
中產階級萎縮。從二戰結束到1970年的20多年間，“中產階級的美國”形成。此后，盡管美國經濟繼續發展，但中產階級不僅沒有擴大，反而顯著下降。生活在中等收入家庭的美國成年人占比從1971年的61%下降到2019年的51%。高收入階層比例從14%上升到20%，低收入階層比例從25%上升到29%，中等收入家庭規模持續萎縮。
Social stratification is severely rigid. According to a paper by Raj Chetty and other American economists, the percentage of Americans earning more than their parents fell from more than 90 percent in the 1940s to about 50 percent in the 1980s, with the largest declines for families in the middle class. The opportunities for young people to increase their incomes are fading. Most of the decline is driven by the more unequal distribution of wealth rather than the slowdown in aggregate growth rates. Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, believes that high inequality in American society has resulted in a low level of inter-generational mobility and formed a "Great Gatsby Curve" where one's economic standing is more dependent on the wealth of the parents.
階層固化嚴重。據美國經濟學家拉杰·切蒂等研究，收入高于父母的美國人比例從20世紀40年代的超過90%下降到20世紀80年代的約50%。其中，中產階級家庭降幅最大，年輕人增加收入的機會越來越少，主要原因不是經濟增長放緩，而是財富分配不公。奧巴馬政府白宮經濟顧問委員會主席阿蘭·克魯格認為，美國社會的高度不平等造成了代際流動水平較低，形成了一個“了不起的蓋茨比曲線”，個人經濟狀況更多由父母經濟地位決定。
The poverty issue in the United States has never been effectively addressed. The overall poverty rate in the country dropped by more than 10 percentage points from 1959 to 1969, but has lingered around 12.5 percent ever since. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million American people were living in poverty in 2010, and the poverty rate reached up to 15.1 percent, the highest in 52 years. In 2020, the poverty rate climbed by 0.9 percentage points to 11.4 percent from 10.5 percent in 2019. Currently, 37 million American people are still living below the poverty line.
美國的貧困問題從未得到有效解決。1959年至1969年，美國總體貧困率下降了10個百分點以上，此后一直在12.5%左右徘徊不前。據美國人口普查局數據，2010年美國貧困人口達4620萬人，貧困率高達15.1%，為52年來最高。2020年的貧困率達11.4%，比2019年的10.5%上升了0.9個百分點。目前，美國仍有3700萬人生活在貧困線以下。
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified economic inequality in the United States. The economic recession triggered by the pandemic has led to massive job losses and further deterioration in the economic situation of low-income earners. At the same time, excessive money supply and large-scale fiscal spending drove up stock and housing prices, bringing enormous benefits to wealthier asset owners. According to a Fed report on household wealth, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent reached a record 45.9 trillion dollars at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, and their fortunes increased by more than 12 trillion dollars, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.
疫情加劇了美國貧富分化。新冠疫情引發的經濟衰退導致大量失業，低收入者經濟狀況進一步惡化。同時，貨幣超發和大規模財政支出助推股價和房價猛漲，使擁有更多資產的富人爆發式受益。美聯儲關于家庭財富的報告顯示，截至2021年第四季度，美國最富有的1%的人總財富達到創紀錄的45.9萬億美元，其財富在新冠疫情期間增加了超過12萬億美元，增長了三分之一以上。
