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Brazil despite its economic success remains one
of the inequality champions
August 22nd, 2012
The ‘favelas’ or shanty towns that surround
most Brazilian cities
Brazil might be the leading economy in Latin America
and has had a significant performance in reducing poverty in
recent years, but it still remains among the countries with the
highest inequality in the region together with Guatemala,
Honduras and Colombia, points out the UN-Habitat report.
In all four countries based on 2009 data, the Gini income per
capita distribution index stood at 0.56, to which must be added
Dominican Republic and Bolivia, two inequality champions with
high concentration of wealth. This compares with the US and
Portugal Gini indicator of 0.38, two countries that offer no relief
since Portugal, for example, has the highest inequality index of
the European Union.
Nevertheless, Brazil advanced compared to 1990 when
it had the highest degree of inequality and stood well ahead
from the rest of the continent. But the region continues to have
the highest inequality rate in spite of advances in helping
income distribution. Among some of the causes for distribution
improvement are productivity, upward trend of salaries and
workers categories, strong economy and implementation of
income transfer programs in several countries, particularly in
the two leading economies, Brazil and Mexico. In the case of
Brazil, the country’s economy now figures sixth at global level.
Former president Lula da Silva and one of the most popular
leaders in history of that country based his success precisely on
the Bolsa Família Plan, which distributed a monthly basic food
basket to millions, helping anywhere from 14 to 22 million climb
out of poverty, plus ensuring his Workers Party an encouraging
future.
The Gini coefficient or index measures the inequality among
values of a frequency distribution (for instance, levels of income).
A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all
values are the same (for instance, where everyone has an exactly
equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile
scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for instance,
where only one person has all the income).
(http://en.mercopress.com. Adaptado.)
A palavra figures em – In the case of Brazil, the country’s
economy now figures sixth at global level. – equivale, em
português, a
