Today is 'Fat Cat Tuesday'

Here's a fascinating analysis about income inequality from a campaign group called 'High Pay Centre' (click here for the BBC article). A level economics students will know that income inequality is a key issue that Governments are supposed to counter, and is a topic that illustrates a conflict with fiscal, monetary and supply side policies aimed at improving economic growth.

The group have calculated that, assuming that the CEOs of the FTSE 100 started work on the 4th of January, by the end of today they will have earned more than the median average worker will earn in a year. Proof, in the group's opinion that inequality is at an unacceptable level.

The calculations are criticised by the Adam Smith Institute as 'pub economics' (a phrase I've not heard of before but now intend to use regularly). It assumes that the average pay for the 100 CEOs is over £5million and that they work 12 hours a day.

The graphic below shows the most up to date statistics from the ONS (who, I believe, don't generally partake in pub economics) illustrating how the wealth of the UK is distributed among earners separated into deciles.