STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 21 March 2012

[Ghost Dog]

14. London impoverished by rise of the plutocrats

...London's population of millionaires has boomed in the last decade, both because of the lucrative jobs on offer in the finance industry and the arrival of thousands of foreign super rich, for whom it has become a favoured playground...

...A relatively equal distribution of wealth with a substantial middle class is a feature many economists associate with advanced levels of economic development and is what distinguishes the UK or France from countries like Nigeria or Brazil. London, some warn, may be drifting closer to the population profile of the latter.

According to the OECD, income inequality among adults has risen faster in Britain than in any other developed country since 1975. In London, wealth disparities are even more pronounced.

A study by the government's Department for Work and Pensions shows central London is Britain's most unequal region. Splitting the population into five income brackets, the study found that Inner London had 30 percent of people in the poorest fifth of the population, 27 percent in the richest and just 12 percent - the UK's lowest concentration - in the middle fifth...

...Data compiled by London's administrative authority the GLA shows inequality in London has risen in the last decade. The GLA uses the Gini score, a common measure of income distribution that rises from 0, representing total equality, to 100, where all income goes to one person. London's score rose from around 34 in 2002 to 36.2 in 2010, well above 32.4 for the rest of the UK and an OECD average of around 32...

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/20/uk-london-incomedisparity-idUKLNE82J02420120320