Between 1980 and 2016, the top 1 per cent captured 28 per cent of the aggregate increase in real incomes in the US, Canada and western Europe, while the bottom 50 per cent captured just 9 per cent of it. But these aggregates conceal huge differences: in western Europe, the top 1 per cent captured “only” as much as the bottom 51 per cent. In North America, however, the top 1 per cent captured as much as the bottom 88 per cent. These extraordinary facts prove that aggregate growth itself tells us very little — indeed, in the case of the US, virtually nothing — about the scale of improvements in economic welfare for the population as a whole.
在1980年至2016年之間，收入前1%的人掌握了美國、加拿大和西歐實際收入增長總量的28%，而收入后50%的人只得到了其中的9%。但是這些總數掩蓋了巨大的差異：在西歐，收入前1%的人掌握的收入增量“只”與收入后51%的人相當。然而，在北美，收入前1%的人掌握的收入增量卻與收入后88%的人相當。這些非同尋常的事實證明，收入增長總量本身說明不了整體人口經濟福利的改善程度——實際上，就美國而言，二者幾乎沒有絲毫關系。