In rich societies over the last three decades, mean incomes have been rising steadily, but typical incomes have been stagnating or even falling. In other words, a minority – a very small minority in countries like the United States and Britain – has captured most of the gains of growth.
这并不是一个凭空捏造的例子。过去三十年来，发达国家的平均收入稳步上升，但典型收入一直停滞不前甚至有所下降。换句话说，少数人——在美国和英国等国家，是极少数人——攫取了增长的大部分果实。在这些情况下，我们想要的不是更多的增长，而是更少的不均。