Study shows gap growing between rich and poor

Associated Press article reported in BusinessWeek:

A few quotes:

Economic inequality is growing in the world's richest countries, particularly in the United States, jeopardizing the American Dream of social mobility just as the world tilts toward recession...

The United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000, the report said.

Rising inequality threatens social mobility -- children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work -- which is lower in countries like the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, where inequality is high, than countries with less inequality such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia, the report said.

"Greater income inequality stifles upward mobility between generations, making it harder for talented and hardworking people to get the rewards they deserve," [Oxford University economist Anthony Atkinson] said in a statement. "It polarizes societies, it divides regions within countries, and it carves up the world between rich and poor."

In the United States, the richest 10 percent earn an average of $93,000 -- the highest level in the OECD. The poorest 10 percent earn an average of $5,800 -- about 20 percent lower than the OECD average.