Americans Prefer Sweden

[Hannah Bell]

For the first task, we created three unlabeled pie charts of wealth distributions, one of which depicted a perfectly equal distribution of wealth.

Unbeknownst to respondents, a second distribution reflected the wealth distribution in the United States; in order to create a distribution with a level of inequality that clearly fell in between these two charts, we constructed a third pie chart from the income distribution of Sweden (Figure 1).2

We presented respondents with the three pair-wise combinations of these pie charts (in random order) and asked them to choose which nation they would rather join...

“In considering this question, imagine that if you joined this nation, you would be randomly assigned to a place in the distribution, so you could end up anywhere in this distribution, from the very richest to the very poorest.”

As can be seen in Figure 1, the (unlabeled) United States distribution was far less desirable than both the (unlabeled) Sweden distribution and the equal distribution, with some 92% of Americans preferring the Sweden distribution to the United States.

In addition, this overwhelming preference for the Sweden distribution over the United States distribution was robust across gender (Females: 92.7%; Males: 90.6%), preferred candidate in the 2004 election (Bush Voters: 90.2%; Kerry Voters: 93.5%) and income (less than $50,000: 92.1%; $50,001-100,000: 91.7%; more than $100,000: 89.1%).

In addition, there was a slight preference for the distribution that resembled Sweden relative to the equal distribution, suggesting that Americans prefer some inequality to perfect equality, but not to the degree currently present in the United States.

47% chose sweden, 43% chose absolute equality, 10% chose the US.

http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20ariely%20in%20press.pdf


definitely shows a turn to the right, lol.

bunch of commies, americans are.

[freshwest]

1. Thanks, love that.

[eridani]

2. Can't be right. America is a right wing nation, as the "realistic" folks are always telling us

Unlike lefty elitists, "centrist" are in tune with the American people.

[xchrom]

3. does sweden have ANY rich people who live there?

and if they do -- why haven't they left and taken their wealth making magic with them?

[trotsky]

4. I am far more shocked that 43% chose absolute equality.

I find that astounding. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need - who woulda thunk that 4 in 10 Americans would agree?

[whatchamacallit]

5. I'm pretty sure nobody likes the idea that 0.1% have all the marbles

Dumb-ass Americans just refuse to accept that this is the inevitable outcome of a system of unregulated free market capitalism.

[SmileyRose]

7. Yeah but

someday Joe the Plumber is going to be right up there with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.


:crazy:

[starroute]

6. But Americans think America is a lot more equal than it really is

I don't have a link for that -- it was posted here not long ago. But as I recall, researchers showed a bunch of income distribution charts to a random sample of people and asked them which they thought represented the United States. The majority selected one that was a lot closer to Sweden than to us.

[salin]

8. interesting paper

thanks for the link.

Only 10% would select to live in a country with an income distribution that... is the US income distribution.

All Hail the idiocracy and great tradition of anti-intellectualism such that 90% of respondents don't recognize our reality.... and yet keep clamoring for rw talking point policies that advance the cause of further unequal income distribution.

[kgnu_fan]

9. But American choose to be otherwise and cut tax and prefer privatization,... just stupid thinking...