How much should the poor leave to the rich?
Albert is among the poorest 99%. Like many, he thinks the wealthiest 1% have too much. But he also believes that a society where everyone has the same income is unsustainable. Question: what is the maximum share of the pie that should be left to the 1%?
**The contest is over, as are the sales of our covers**
Here are the contest winners:
On Facebook, the winner was Sébastien Chaumet, who lives in Paris.
On Twitter, the winner was a resident of Toulouse whose exact name we are unsure of (she describes herself as a cat lover and comic book enthusiast!).
And finally, on Tipeee, the winner was Eric Darchis from Belgium.
Help Albert subtitle his videos in French and other languages!
https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_...
The New York Times article with Warren Buffett: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/bus...
The book "1984" on Amazon:
https://goo.gl/pkqnBR
(If you've never read this book, it's really time to do so; it's an absolute classic.)
The Gini coefficient:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeffic...
In the video, Nathan says that, roughly speaking, the Gini coefficient can be considered the percentage of the wealthiest 1%.
While this approximation has the advantage of simplifying the interpretation of the Gini coefficient, it remains flawed because it relies on a significant assumption: that the share of the pie held by the 99% must be equally distributed within the group, as must the share held by the 1%. Which, of course, is never the case.
In practice, the approximation presented in the video tends to overestimate the actual share of the pie held by the 1%.
By a significant amount? It needs to be studied on a case-by-case basis (country by country) with access to the country's Lorenz curve (and the World Bank doesn't provide that!).
Fortunately, a report that accurately estimates the actual share held by the top 1% for several countries was published very recently: http://wir2018.wid.world/part-2.html
In the case of France: the top 1% held 11% in 2014 according to this report, while the World Bank's Gini coefficient is 32%. Interpreting the Gini coefficient as the share of the pie held by the top 1% overestimates the reality by 21 points, which isn't ideal.
In the case of Germany: the top 1% held approximately 13% in 2013 according to the report. The World Bank gives a Gini coefficient of 31% for 2013. Overestimation = 18 points.
Nathan hesitated until the very last minute: should he keep the approximation? He finally decided to do so and hopes he won't be judged too harshly. Making complex concepts accessible is a delicate exercise that sometimes involves difficult choices.
Gini coefficients according to the World Bank:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/...
Below are the Gini coefficients calculated in February 2018 for the 250 most popular video creators in each country according to Socialblade.
Note 1: For some countries, there were fewer than 250 video creators provided by Socialblade.
Note 2: For some countries, the data provided by Socialblade is questionable. Let's take Djibouti (Gini coefficient close to 100%), an African country.
https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/c...
According to socialblade, the top YouTuber is NEMAGIA-LifE, with 1,107,889 subscribers, and the second is salsibiris1 with... 29,227 subscribers. This clearly explains the country's explosive Gini coefficient. Except that if you visit the NEMAGIA-LifE channel:
• Video
you'll see it's a Russian channel. Why on earth does socialblade place this channel in Djibouti? It's a complete mystery.
Note 3: There are some "countries" whose mere presence on the list is laughable, like the Vatican, Antarctica, and North Korea.
0.266 United States
0.317 Russian Federation
0.318 Germany
0.319 Brazil
0.330 Indonesia
0.335 Poland
0.345 France
0.351 Japanese
0.363 Hong Kong
0.373 Saudi Arabia
0.378 Hungary
0.379 Italy
0.382 Turkish
0.390 Vietnam
0.391 Egypt
0.400 United Kingdom
0.401 Bangladesh
0.403 Morocco
0.415 Spain
0.418 India
0.425 Greece
0.427 Thailand
0.430 Romania
0.430 Pakistan
0.439 Czech Republic
0.442 Mexico
0.443 Canada
0.446 Israel
0.451 Peru
0.458 Australia
0.465 Ukraine
0.477 Ecuador
0.477 South Korea
0.477 Malaysia
**This list is far too long; YouTube limits the description size. For the complete list, see our pinned comment!**
Script and narration: Nathan Uyttendaele - https://goo.gl/buuX1s
Illustration, animation, sound design: Laura Maugeri - http://lauramaugeri.com
Music: Gwenaël Grisi - / gwena-l-grisi
For those who had the courage to read to the end, here's a funny cat video as a reward, as usual: • Bunny Chases Cat - Hilarious