The emergence of property inequality and, as a consequence, social differentiation.
HOW TO MEASURE social - property inequality? Of course, the distribution of personal incomes of the population, as is done in most countries of the world. However, in a country where value equivalents have lost their price coordinates, where wages do not serve as a measure of labor, and where consumer goods and services can exist in complete isolation from the quality of real life goods, it would be reckless to define wealth inequality in this way.
DIFFERENTIATION IN CONSUMPTION
So, in 1986, in our families of 4 people with an income of 260 rubles. per month, meat and meat products were consumed almost 3 times less than in families of the same composition with an income of 900 rubles.
In the United States as a whole, per capita food consumption in the wealthiest 10% of American families is only 10% higher than in the poorest 10%. (Another thing is the quality of this meat - cheap chicken or expensive veal steaks.)
In most modern countries, a whole system of redistributive measures (taxes, social benefits, payments and benefits) has been introduced, which lead to a significant reduction in the final inequality in consumption. At the same time, taxes are levied on a progressive scale: the higher the amount of income, the higher tax rate. Benefits are paid to the really needy.
In our country, the real inequality in the standard of living, even taking into account public consumption funds, remains very high. In terms of the share of OFP in the gross national product, we are far behind all the developed countries of the world: in 1987, the USSR - about 20%, the USA - 28.5%. But even these minor international standards funds are distributed very unevenly. A disproportionately large part of them is consumed by high-income groups of the population.
In addition, differentiation in the consumption of goods and services is exacerbated by profound differences in the volume, availability, and quality of goods and services distributed through a common and closed network. According to data published in Pravda, only 0.04% of the population of one of the regions of the Non-Chernozem region, represented by employees of the apparatus of the regional committee, the regional executive committee and their families, consumed from 56 to 100% of delicacies.
Long-standing efforts in our country to raise the living standards of the poorest segments of the population, in particular by raising the minimum wages, are presented by many economists as "leveling". This is a fundamentally wrong statement, since these measures were aimed at raising consumption standards for the majority of the country's population to the level of physiologically necessary norms, and not at reducing inequality.
Inequality in the situation of the elderly is growing. The average size of the state pension, as you know, is now 84 rubles.
At the same time, we also have an elite in the form of 500,000 personal pensioners. Their high level of provision consists of the amount of personal pensions (up to 500 rubles) and a whole range of high-quality services and benefits provided to them.
In addition, the overwhelming majority of personal pensioners are former high-ranking and highly paid employees who, over many years of work, have accumulated significant material values(apartment, car, cottage).
In total, in the upper stratum of the multimillion-strong detachment of pensioners in 1987 there were about 750 thousand people, or 1.6% of their total number. However, only a tenth of them (about 0.2%) can be classified as "Soviet-style" very wealthy. Their personal wealth is 100-1000 times greater than the property of 16 million old-age pensioners who received less than 60 rubles in 1987. per month.
BET ON "MIDDLE"
You can try to compare the degree wealth inequality on the distribution of personal property. In the USSR in 1985, the average amount of personal property per family was 7.3 thousand rubles, including 11.6% for transport, 31% for wardrobe items, and 28% for cultural and household items. .2%.
In the United States, according to a 1984 survey, the average American family's personal property was valued at $32,700. What did it consist of? Own housing accounts for 40% of the value of all property (2/3 of families live in their own homes, 1/3 rent, the average effective area per person - 48 m "sup" 2 "/sup"), to savings accounts and various securities- 25%. The rest was for cars, jewelry and household appliances.
As we can see, neither in terms of volume, nor in quality, nor in composition, nor in the structure of accumulated property, American and Soviet families can be comparable. Naturally, they cannot be compared in terms of inequality in the distribution of accumulated property.
So? in the US, 12% of households with a property of $125,000 accounted for over a third of the country's total personal property fund, and 0.5% of the richest American families accounted for 22%. At the same time, 26% of families with low income(less than $900 a month) owned less than 10% of the country's net wealth, indicating very high inequality, much greater than in the Soviet Union.
However, if we try to compare the comparable, that is, take into account personal, non-capitalized property, it turns out that our inequality is higher. Wealthy citizens - the Soviet equivalent of the American "middle class" - include all persons with personal cars - 13 million people, or 11.2% of all families in the Soviet Union. It is about these citizens that we can say that, in general, according to real standards of consumption, they belong to the wealthy segments of the population, having a complete set of apartments (houses), modern housing furnishings, cars, in many cases a second home (cottage), i.e. those items that are considered mandatory attributes of the "middle class" throughout the world. The small number of car owners who are not included in this group is quite compensated by families who, although they do not have a personal car, have high standards of living.
For comparison, we point out that in most developed Western countries the share of this socially and class heterogeneous group is 70 - 50%, in the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary - 40 - 50%.
The phenomenon of the "middle class" plays an exceptionally important role in the political and economic life of modern countries. This large group stabilizes the political life of the country, serves as a kind of guarantor of democracy (and not only bourgeois democracy), pushing various extremist movements and groups to the periphery of public life. At the same time, the consumer demands of the middle-income strata largely determine the development of the economy, the structure and pace of its growth, and the technical renewal of production.
"PLUM
As for the super-wealthy or “rich” by the standards of our life, this category includes people who not only have a lot, but have something that is in principle inaccessible to the vast majority: power, access to special distributors and high-quality goods and services.
Representatives of science (academicians and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences who do not have high posts), art, culture and sports, and foreign workers should also be included in the category of the super-wealthy. Their high incomes, fees, foreign trips compensate for their lack of special distributors. Although very often these faces are attached to some of them.
According to the author, this group includes about 400 thousand people. Taking into account the representatives of the "new rich" from among the cooperators, individuals, as well as the underground rich will lead to an increase in the size of this group by about 100 thousand people.
Thus, less than 0.25% of the country's citizens live by standards that are practically inaccessible to the rest of the population.
In this regard, it should be recalled that the number of millionaires in the United States currently exceeds 1.5 million people, or 0.6% of the population. The U.S. equivalent of our ultra-wealthy group would not be just millionaires; and the so-called "owners", whose personal fortune was estimated at 2 - 10 million dollars. In the mid-80s. they also made up 0.25% of the total US population.
It should be borne in mind that the comparison of these two groups is very conditional. In our country we are dealing with a status elite based on the concentration of status and undeniable power, in the US with individuals who have achieved wealth in the process of capital accumulation.
The vast majority of the wealth of the American rich is represented in the form of stocks, bonds, securities, which serve only as titles of property. A commercial failure or personal bankruptcy can immediately reduce such "paper" wealth by several times. That is why personal rotation among representatives of American millionaires is quite high, and even higher among billionaires: in 1986, out of 49 super-rich people, only two retained the title of billionaire since the 50s (D. Rockefeller, E. Hunt).
Of course, American millionaires live richer than the Soviet elite, but our "nomenklatura" can be quite proud of the stability of its ranks.
Only an insignificant part of the fortune of American "owners" (10 - 25%) falls on capitalized property, enclosed in objects and goods. It is no coincidence that, constituting only 0.25% of the total population, they concentrated in their hands 82% of the total US capital, held in bonds, securities, stocks and trust funds, and at the same time - only 0.5% of property in the form of private homes, 0.8% termless deposits and cash. 2.2% - in the form of durable goods. In other words, in terms of "ordinary" property, the gap between American millionaires and the rest of the population of their country was quite comparable with the inequality between the "super-wealthy" and other citizens in our country.
Yes, and in terms of accumulated monetary savings, we cannot boast of great equality. In 1986, the average deposit amounted to 1,361 rubles. However, if we take into account that 7 out of 8 citizens of our country do not have salaries at all, then the average amount of savings has already amounted to about 7 thousand rubles. (in 1987, about 8 thousand rubles). In addition, among the depositors themselves there is a very strong inequality. Indeed, among them are numerous contingents of workers who receive wages and pensions through savings banks.
A rather large category of citizens occupies a special place in the distribution of the population by standard of living, which gravitates towards the upper group in terms of access to quality goods and services. This includes tradespeople and Catering, logistics and marketing, procurement, housing public utilities. In total, about 17 million people, or 6% of the country's population.
About how the deficit turns into personal benefits for those who control it, data from selective surveys of the State Statistics Committee speak: the expenses of trade workers are 60% higher than their official income, in one of the republics, 70% of cars of foreign brands belong to workers in trade and the service sector.
According to their property status, these persons are presumably distributed as follows: one tenth, or 1.7 million people, belongs to the "rich" group, two-fifths, or 6.8 million people, to the "middle class", the rest 8.5 million people - to the top of the low-income.
Thus, the social and property pyramid in the Soviet Union looks like this: "rich" - 2.3% of all families (of which only 0.7% have legal sources of income and property), middle-income elephants - 11.2% of families, half of which achieved prosperity on the deficit, the poor - 86.5%.
Such a distribution is very conditional and satisfies only one requirement: it meets the criterion of the absolute level of consumption of personal goods, albeit remotely, but approaching international standards.
If we take into account only personal property that has a use value (without capital), then the corresponding structure in the United States will look like this: 3% of the rich. 17% - secured. 60% - average and 20% - low-income. Approximately the same picture is observed in other developed countries.
The degree of wealth inequality in our country is much higher than in developed countries. The main reason is the hypertrophied scale of poverty and the rudimentary size of the middle-income strata.
The building of a healthy, just socialist society is unthinkable without the elimination of feudal vestiges in the "status" distribution of goods. The development of political democracy in our country would create the prerequisites for complete economic calculation. This, under socialism, would help to reduce the boundaries of both the official property elite and the underground bandocracy, would create favorable conditions to expand the social and political base of the renewed society - the Soviet "middle stratum".
A. ZAICHENKO, Candidate of Economic Sciences
The problem of wealth inequality, as in any country with market economy, indeed today is very relevant in Russia. Market mechanisms are not limited by anything, they lead to the concentration of income, capital and property. Moreover, the dynamics of growth in the standard of living in Russia is steadily growing.
If in the world after a series of crisis phenomena, the total personal wealth decreased by as much as 5%, then in Russia there was no decline. Over the past five years, the Russian economy has grown by 40%, the increase in real incomes of the population is 10% per year. Considering that the main income of the majority of the population is wages, the increase in the wages of state employees also mattered.
The state is doing a lot of work to reduce the property gap between the poor and the rich and to find the golden mean of property security, that is, the formation of a middle class and the creation of a society of optimal balance. The state is trying to ensure a decent standard of living for people with the help of housing programs, budget investments in various areas of social security from medicine to education, raising pensions and wages.
Large funds are allocated to solve the housing problem, because the health and family well-being of a person largely depends on the quality of housing. The process of achieving the optimal level of inequality is becoming more and more noticeable, which does not stifle the initiative and encourages people to work and search more effectively in life. And most importantly, it does not give rise to a huge mass of people living on the verge of poverty without the opportunity to get a good education, maintain good health, and open their own business. The coefficient of the “normal” level of inequality for Russia, according to sociologists, will be optimal at 7-10%, in which case the ratio will be favorable for the economy and for the reproduction and preservation of human potential.
Today, the socio-property gap is off scale, according to various sources, for 50 or more percent. ntov. The incomes of wealthy Russians are often a hundred times higher than the level of the poor, in Russia there are 101 billionaires, 160 thousand people with an annual income of more than $1 million, 440 thousand people receive more than $100 thousand a year, and 18 million Russians survive on 5 dollars a day. At the same time, the factor of the relative poverty of Russians can be especially noted. Due to the large gap between the incomes of the rich and the poor, the so-called "subjective poor" appeared in Russia - these are people who consider themselves poor compared to the oligarchs, although in fact they are not. In Russia, 40% of Russians feel like beggars. These are mainly parents who cannot ensure the future of their children: buy them an apartment, pay tuition fees, and so on. And although the gap between the richest and poorest segments of the population is huge, at the same time, practically no one goes hungry in the country, a social minimum is being created for everyone.
Speaking about the peculiarities of social stratification in Russia, one should also take into account the territorial factor. If in Moscow there is a concentration of the population with a high level of income, then in the outback and in countryside there is a lower standard of living due to the underdevelopment of production and the lack of highly paid jobs. Statistics show that the coefficients of variation of indicators - incomes of the population, budgetary security - depend on the region, on how successfully the budget policy is carried out there. Regional inequality in Russia is due to geographic factor and is connected with the current policy that impedes the development of the largest agglomerations. They do not develop for a number of reasons: due to transport problems, housing market problems. People migrate to where there are economic prospects - to large cities, from district centers to regional centers, and from there to megacities. The concentration of a significant part of the population in largest agglomerations, life in which will be approximately on the same level, significantly solves the problem of inequality. The easier it is for people to go where there is work, where they will be in demand, the easier inequality is mitigated.
But at the same time, it is necessary to develop industry in the regions, raise the standard of living there too, by opening new business projects (resort areas, nature reserves, agricultural enterprises, etc.) Capital should also be able to quickly enter the market and, accordingly, quickly leave from unpromising directions. It is possible to mitigate inequality through budget support. In recent years, special importance has been attached to the economic revival of the regions and the creation of industrial infrastructure there.
To date, 70 regions, taking into account the methodological recommendations of the Ministry of Labor, have developed their own regional programs. In 2014-2016 the state allocates 9 billion rubles for their co-financing. At the same time, the emphasis is on improving the demographics in these regions and creating conditions for preschool and school education, and medical care. An additional 50 billion rubles have been allocated from the federal budget for the modernization of the system of preschool education. It also provides for an increase in budget allocations in the amount of 437.9 million rubles for the payment of lump sum to adoptive families from January 1, 2013.
It is also important to pursue in Russia a policy of dialogue between the authorities, business and society, and the development of social partnership. Today, the authorities are doing everything to make the future of the working man in our country optimistic. Social guarantees are being fulfilled, salaries and pensions are being paid every day, young families are being supported. Those who want to study study, those who want to work work. In this regard, Russia is the leader modern world. Unlike many countries, the current leadership of Russia does not let the problem take its course, for its self-resolution with the help of the "invisible hand" of the market mechanism. The maximum possible is being done to support the socially unprotected segments of the population with the help of budgetary resources. And now the main task of the government is to force the rich to help the poor, using a number of tax initiatives. The main regulator should be a progressive scale of taxation, but not on wages, but on total income, otherwise we will hit the entire working population. As you know, in Russia, 26% of the single social tax, 13% income tax taken directly from the employee's salary. A total of 39% - almost half of what you earn - goes to taxes. In Europe, taxes on income are on average 50%, and in Norway in general 80%, thanks to which they manage to achieve social harmony in a certain sense. At the same time, one must be aware that in Russia the real tax burden on the rich, living on "rental" income, is several times less than on those who receive a salary! In this regard, Russia simply needs Government program reducing economic inequality. One way in which revenues can be regulated is the luxury tax, the introduction of which is so much talked about in Lately, as well as the efficient use of public funds for social programs and tough fight against corruption.
Announcing the Budget Message on June 13, Head of State Vladimir Putin once again emphasized the importance of the principle of efficient spending of budget funds, so that each state ruble works as intended and contributes to an increase in economic growth and welfare of the Russian people.
Putin instructed the Government at the stage of budget preparation to once again analyze state programs, determine priorities, and ensure that the goals set and real budgetary possibilities correspond. In particular, according to him, "the share of those expenditures that have the greatest effect on economic growth and social development should increase." The President believes that the main reserves should also be sought by the method of structural reforms in social sphere by emphasizing the targeted nature of social support.
Undoubtedly, the Government and legislators, when preparing the budget for the next three years, need to prepare for a difficult period that will begin in 2016. And already today, measures should be taken to determine priority obligations, redirect resources to those obligations of the state that are defined in presidential decrees.
Measures have also been identified to stabilize the budget policy: these include cutting off channels for transferring profits offshore, improving the quality of tax administration, and attracting foreign investment. “We must create such tax conditions so that investing money in Russia is more profitable than hiding it somewhere on the islands or spending it on luxury goods,” the head of state believes. All these measures should give real results. The budget must work for the benefit of the people. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed: “Social policy has several dimensions. This is support for the weak, those who, for objective reasons, cannot earn a living. This is to ensure the operation of social lifts, an “equal start” and the promotion of each person based on his abilities and talent.”
I want to emphasize that the current budget plan faithful to the tradition of previous Russian budgets and is aimed at social security of citizens and support of their decent standard of living. Law on federal budget for 2013 and the period 2014-2015 suggests an increase in government spending on social policy. In 2013 they will amount to 3.963 trillion. rub., and in 2014 will increase to 4.113 trillion. rub., then up to 4.559 trillion. rub. in 2015. Today, no one can deny the fact that unemployment in Russia is now at its historically lowest level, there is quite a high level of employment, and the resource in the form of the economically active population is used quite fully. Social insurance is also at a decent level. Old-age pensions will increase in 2013 by 10.5%.
Indexation of allowances and other payments is planned. Thus, maternity capital funds will be indexed and amount to almost 409 thousand rubles, and by 2015 they will increase to 450 thousand rubles. At the same time, a significant increase in funds is provided for supporting families and children. Thus, from January 1, 2013, payments at the birth of a child are made in regions with an unfavorable demographic situation, more than 50 constituent entities of the Russian Federation will be able to receive support. In turn, 219 billion rubles will be allocated for the payment of child care allowances, housing for orphans, as well as lump sum payments for the birth of a third child and subsequent children. From September 1, 2013, the scholarship fund for students, graduate students, doctoral students, interns and residents will also increase by 5.5%, and in the next two years the overall increase will be another 10%. During the consideration of the draft budget in the second reading, the deputies also adopted an amendment on the allocation of additional funds of 135 million rubles for the provision of subsidies public organizations disabled people and other non-profit associations.
Working on state budgets, including during the crisis years of 2008-2010, I have always noted the principled line of the country's leadership to preserve social priorities in budget planning. Everything possible was done so that children, the disabled, and veterans would not suffer. And the latest statistics eloquently testify to this. In 2012, the number of unemployed decreased by 700 thousand people, while the real disposable income of citizens increased by 3.6% compared to 2011. The main reasons for this were a record high (by 9.4%) increase in real wages, and a slowdown in consumer inflation.
It must be admitted that the search for an optimal balance between the need to address the issues of modernizing the country and maintaining macroeconomic stability remains relevant in the coming years. The new government of Russia, formed in May 2012, faced an extremely difficult task in the field of budget policy: on the one hand, it was necessary to ensure the fulfillment of social promises, and on the other hand, to prevent an imbalance in the budget system. At the same time, we should not refuse either to increase defense spending or high-cost image projects, including hosting numerous international sporting events: the 2013 Universiade in Kazan, the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. And therefore, it will be a budget for a compromise of economic, political and social goals, and their achievement will require a lot of money and efforts on the part of the state, and naturally, many different kinds of risks lie in wait for us on the way to achieve them. First of all, it is necessary to take into account the objective factor associated with a possible slowdown in growth and a recession in the world economy, the continued dependence Russian economy and the budgetary system from the external economic situation, limited internal financial resources, a possible decrease in the competitiveness of domestic products in the context of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Government spending control, flexible tax policy, maintaining social stability and balancing the incomes of citizens, and the fight against corruption - this is, perhaps, the main tool in solving social issues and equalizing property inequality.
Recently, anti-corruption actions have been taken against a number of state corporations and high-ranking officials caught stealing and taking bribes from the state treasury. In May of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of laws that obliges parliamentarians and officials to get rid of foreign assets. Within three months, civil servants must close accounts in foreign banks, sell securities foreign companies and deal with their other assets. It's no secret that new measure even at the stage of preparing bills, it was painfully received by some officials and members of the Federal Assembly. After all, among them there are people, to put it mildly, not poor.
I’ll make a reservation right away that this does not mean at all that their fortunes were acquired dishonestly, because there are many successful people in the parliament and ministries, who proved themselves in the field of entrepreneurship before joining the civil service. It is unlikely that anyone will dispute the fact that a person who has achieved certain achievements in business is able to prove himself in the service of the state. However, there are civil servants whose wealth is not only large enough, but also cross-border. For them, the adoption of the law on the "nationalization of the elite" became a kind of bifurcation point - they had to make a choice what to prefer - foreign assets or serving the country in a position that many of them earned with difficulty and "brought closer" with long efforts.
Closing foreign bank accounts or taxing excess luxury is a painful reality for them. Some deputies and officials have already taken the path of renunciation of the mandate or dismissal from their positions, many are only getting ready. This process has seriously “thinned out” the Federation Council, which has already left four senators, mostly from the Forbes list. It is possible that others will join them. This is understandable - the post of senator for a long time was considered as a status for wealthy businessmen, moreover, granting immunity. But there are those who are ready to give up their assets for the sake of social stabilization in the country. Member of the Federation Council from Dagestan Suleiman Kerimov is one of the richest people Russia - even before the signing of the relevant law, he made his choice in favor of public service. I must say that Karimov today closes the top twenty Russian billionaires according to Forbes with a fortune of $ 7 billion, but since 2008 he has been representing the Republic of Dagestan in the Senate and has since stopped classes entrepreneurial activity, by transferring its assets, including foreign ones, to the management of trust companies. And today he decided to abandon foreign assets in favor of state activities.
Another of the effective measures against excess luxury can be called the bill "On Amendments to Article 362 of Part Two of the Tax Code Russian Federation» (in terms of increasing the tax burden on owners of expensive Vehicle). It is proposed from January 1, 2014 to establish a multiplying coefficient for base rates transport tax for expensive vehicles. For cars average cost from 5 million to 10 million rubles inclusive, from the year of manufacture of which no more than 5 years have passed, a coefficient of 2 will be applied. For cars with an average cost of 10 million to 15 million rubles. inclusive, from the year of manufacture of which no more than 10 years have passed, as well as cars with an average cost of 15 million rubles, from the year of manufacture of which no more than 20 years have passed, a coefficient of 3 will be applied. This bill, the social essence of which is obvious, solves two related tasks. Firstly, its implementation will replenish the budgets of the regions, which are in dire need of funds today.
And secondly - and this is exactly what I see as the main task of the bill - it is aimed at establishing a new understanding of social justice. By supporting the bill, the State Duma will give a clear signal that our society does not welcome the so-called prestigious consumption. It is morally unacceptable to deliberately demonstrate one's wealth when a significant part of Russians are still in poverty. I hope that this signal will be heard and accepted by our wealthy citizens. The government will soon make proposals regarding expensive real estate, large land plots, where there will also be increased taxation. This is hundreds of millions, if not billions of rubles. The deputies are sure that the funds received as a result of the introduction of the luxury tax should be used strictly according to intended purpose, sending them to support children from orphanages entering independent life. This will be correct, first of all, from the point of view of morality, morality, strengthening the spiritual bonds in our society.
I would also like to note the draft law, which strengthens the responsibility for corruption crimes and embezzlement of budgetary funds. Amendments are being made to the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the law on the compliance of expenses of persons holding public office. The concept of a corruption crime is introduced and responsibility for embezzlement of funds from budgets, state off-budget funds and state corporations. The maximum punishment is from 8 to 15 years in prison.
Very important is the bill that will close the "financial laundry" for laundering "dirty money", adopted by the State Duma in the third reading - "On Amendments to Certain legislative acts Russian Federation in terms of countering illegal financial transactions". The standard is directed against the legalization of criminal proceeds, the financing of terrorism, tax and customs evasion, as well as the receipt of corruption dividends. The draft law gives the right to refuse administrative bodies state registration a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur in case of providing false information about the company and its type of activity. Provisions are also introduced on the material liability of persons controlling the debtor, the debtor's managers and members of the liquidation commission, whose actions led to bankruptcy. also in Tax code RF changes obliging banks inform tax authorities information on opening and closing accounts (deposits) physical, legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, changing details.
A lot of controversy among experts was caused by the new norms reflected in federal laws“On operational-search activity” and “On banks and banking”, according to which the bodies engaged in operational-search activities, on the basis of a court decision, receive the right to access information containing bank secrecy.
Provisions are being introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that provide for the confiscation of proceeds from crimes of an economic nature, and the norms on countering the illegal export of capital abroad are being adjusted. Finally, the draft law strengthens administrative liability for concealment or false declaration individuals foreign exchange or Russian currency. Banks get the right to terminate the bank account agreement (at the moment, the bank can do this only through the courts) with the notification of the client (changes are made to Article 859 of the Civil Code). Clarifications and changes have been made to a number of articles of the Criminal Code that provide for penalties in the field of legalization of criminal proceeds, evasion of repatriation Money.
Regulations have been adopted regarding the declaration of real estate subject to mandatory verification. A package of bills is being considered to prohibit civil servants from keeping money in foreign banks and buying shares of foreign issuers. The ban will also affect spouses and minor children of officials. Introduced declaration of income and the most important expenses for all civil servants. Russia has joined a number of international anti-corruption conventions.
I am sure that until the task of reducing the economy is solved, it will be impossible to create equal opportunities for all Russians. Without a strong state, we will not survive in this world.
Prepared Vasily TRESKOV
Vasiliev Yury Viktorovich, Chairman of the State Duma Subcommittee on Cooperation with the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation
Social inequality- a form of differentiation, in which individual individuals, social groups, strata, classes are at different levels of the vertical social hierarchy and have unequal life chances and opportunities to meet needs. In its most general form, inequality means that people live in conditions in which they have unequal access to limited resources of material and spiritual consumption. As of 2006, the richest 1% own more than 40% of the world's wealth. According to other estimates, the top 2% own more than 50% of the world's wealth.
The most dangerous is the grassroots inequality of opportunities, not associated with the personal efforts of members of society, when talented people from birth cannot realize their talents due to unfavorable socio-economic conditions in childhood and adolescence. For example, bright children from poor families do not have the opportunity to receive a good education and, as a result, find themselves in the "poverty trap" .
Social inequality is perceived and experienced by many people (primarily the unemployed, economic migrants, those who are at or below the poverty line) as a manifestation of injustice. Social inequality, property stratification of society, as a rule, lead to an increase in social tension, especially in the transition period.
The main principles of social policy implementation are:
- protection of living standards by introducing various forms of compensation for price increases and indexation;
- providing assistance to the poorest families;
- issuance of assistance in case of unemployment;
- ensuring social insurance policies, establishing a minimum wage for workers;
- development of education, protection of health, environment mainly at the expense of the state;
- pursuing an active policy aimed at ensuring qualifications.
Causes of inequality
From the point of view of the theory of conflict, the cause of inequality is the protection of the privileges of power, who controls society and power, he has the opportunity to benefit personally for himself, inequality is the result of tricks of influential groups seeking to maintain their status. Robert Michels deduced the iron law of the oligarchy: an oligarchy always develops when the size of the organization exceeds a certain value, because 10 thousand people cannot discuss the issue before each case, they entrust the discussion of the issue to the leaders.
Changing the degree of social inequality in the process of history
Gerard Lensky compared the stages of development of society in terms of inequality and found:
Inequality criteria
Max Weber
Max Weber identified three criteria for inequality:
The first criterion can be used to measure the degree of inequality in terms of income differences. With the help of the second criterion - by the difference in honor and respect. With the help of the third criterion - by the number of subordinates. Sometimes there is a contradiction between the criteria, for example, a professor and a priest today have a low income, but enjoy great prestige. The leader of the mafia is rich, but his prestige in society is minimal. Rich people statistically live longer and get sick less. A person's career is influenced by wealth, race, education, parental occupation, and personal ability to lead people. Higher education makes it easier to move up the corporate ladder in large companies than in small ones.
Figures of inequality
The horizontal width of the figure indicates the number of people with a given amount of income. At the top of the figure is the elite. Over the past hundred years, Western society has evolved from a pyramidal structure to a diamond-shaped one. In the pyramidal structure, there is a vast majority of the poor and a small handful of oligarchs. The diamond-shaped structure has a large share of the middle class. A diamond structure is preferable to a pyramidal structure, as a large middle class will not allow a handful of poor people to arrange a civil war. And in the first case, the vast majority, consisting of the poor, can easily overturn the social system.
see also
Notes
- Guardian 6 December 2006 World’s richest 1% own 40% of all wealth, UN report discovers
- BBC , 5 December 2006 Richest 2% own "half the wealth"
- Arnold Khachaturov. Country of Inequality // Novaya Gazeta. - 2018. - No. 107. - S. 8-9.
- Carnegie Moscow Center September 19-20, 2018
Even during the Mesolithic, some families in a number of ways (number, individual qualities, the condition of their activities) turned out to be higher than other families. It was these families that took away a greater amount of surplus product - the main factor in the emergence of property inequality.
From the very beginning, the excess product was almost impossible to accumulate, but it was used as a way to increase their own authority and increase their popularity.
The richest families could influence the poorer families, they gave them food, and in return they received their support.
The settled way of life was also a key factor in the formation of property inequality. With the advent of agriculture, there is a division of labor, some of the most influential families no longer have to be engaged in the extraction of food, they led those who obtained these products.
Property inequality gave rise to social differentiation of society and specialization. In addition to the extraction of products, more honorable and easier activities appear. Among these occupations was the leadership of the entire economic activity, and then the social life of society. Some take up religious activities. It began from the fact that people wanted to somehow encourage the most useful occupations and gave a certain circle of people a significantly higher position in society.
As the population grew, the need for everyone to work was exhausted, a certain circle of people could now only deal with administration.
Such people not only had strong influence and prestige among their community, but also received economic and social benefits or privileges. So people accumulated much more property than others - hence the inequality of property.
From that moment, the decomposition of primitive society began, classes began to be created. People who had a higher rank in society received a significantly larger amount of surplus product than everyone else.
Special privileges were received not only by the richest members of society, but also by those who possessed special individual qualities and, of course, the most useful to society. Even greater advancement on the social ladder could be achieved by arranging feasts, holidays, and only the richest could afford such a family. Thus, only a small number of persons could increase their position.
In addition to all this, ancient people believed that a person’s wealth was due to the favor of gods or spirits towards him, which means that such people had to occupy a special place. The prestige of the owner of wealth thus grew substantially. Such people usually had the support of other members of the community.
It is then that the most influential and wealthy members of the community take over the management of this community. Such people are the first step from property inequality to the social differentiation of society. The richest in terms of property, as a rule, occupied the highest rung in the social pyramid of society. In turn, those who occupy the highest position in society have even greater opportunities for the subsequent accumulation of property. Thus, the top of society was formed, subordinating all power to itself, and as a result, the birth of the first state began.
Thus, the emergence of property inequality gives rise to social differentiation, and that, in turn, further exacerbates property inequality.
Publication date: 10/17/2012
It's no secret that in Russia there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Why do some people become billionaires while others become poor? Why is the state of affairs regarding wealth inequality getting worse and worse? How can the situation in Russia be improved?
Sad statistics
Swiss yearly Bank Credit Suisse makes a report on the economic and social development of the countries of the world (Global Wealth Report). This year in the Russian Federation there is an even greater gap between rich and poor people. According to statistics, about 100 billionaires control a third of all Russia's assets. At the same time, the quantity dollar billionaires we have a very large one (4th place, after the USA, Germany and the UK).
It does not take a genius to understand the poor socio-economic situation of citizens. At the same time, the middle class dominates in most civilized countries, which is logical. In Russia, the number of people below the poverty line is greater than the number of people in the middle and rich classes combined.
An interesting fact: the number of dollar millionaires in Russia is extremely small compared to other countries. In Russia, about 2,000 people have more than $50 million. And in the US there are 40,000 of them. Such a distribution of money between social classes, as in Russia, is typical for developing countries such as India, Brazil, Mexico, etc.
European analysts characterize wealth inequality in Russia as a "parody". It was assumed that during the transition period, Russia will improve the system of social protection, efficient economy and labor legislation. Instead, the state of affairs in Russia regarding wealth inequality is only getting worse every year.
Who's guilty
In fact, the situation in Russia could be much worse. Western analysts do not take into account the fact that Russia had poor starting conditions. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia began to accumulate capital. This is necessary to maintain the economic order. For most European countries, the initial accumulation of capital took hundreds of years. Russia is still a young state.
The only way to quickly accumulate capital and economic basis, it is necessary to adjust the economy to the formation of an export-raw material economy. No matter how they scold oil, without its sale, Russia would be at a low level of development. The oil needle is needed to support life. And because of the peculiarities of the raw material export model, the apparatus of the raw material oligarchy is being formed. At the same time, a large number of people remain unemployed in this area. That is why there is such a gap between the rich and the poor. However, this is still wrong...
The system is now such that the extraction of raw materials allows you to quickly and efficiently form cash funds. The state should control this area well, and therefore it has the maximum impact on the commodity market.
How long it will be going on
It makes no sense for the state to change the existing raw material export system. As long as there is oil in Russia, and as long as the price of raw materials is stable, Russia will not change the existing system. If it happens that oil falls in price or runs out, then Russia will urgently begin to change the economic and social model of the state. That's when property inequality will begin to come into balance between the rich and the poor. But the system will change for a long time and with “victims”.
If Russia ceases to produce / sell oil, then the country will begin a wild shortage of funds. Hence inflation and other joys. As a result, it will happen that after 20 to 50 years of long suffering, the economy will improve. This leads to the next question: “Are the people of the country ready for this?” “Does the state dare to break a bad system (but still a system) in order to create a good one (but with some risk)?”
What do we have to do
The most reasonable approach is to start making changes now (or better, yesterday). Russia is trying to develop Agriculture, industry, innovation, etc. We just don't see results.
Russia can help a lot progressive taxation. Those. The tax rate rises according to your earnings. Then the rich will pay large taxes, and the poor and middle class will pay small taxes. So you can balance the system a little. In some countries, progressive taxation has allowed the middle class to become the backbone of society. However, one should not be naive to believe that such taxation will be a panacea for Russia's wealth inequality.
As a result, we come to the conclusion that wealth inequality will persist as long as Russia has an export-raw material system. But there is no need to be sad about this. Now there are liberal conditions of employment. This means that everyone can be part of the middle class. To do this, it is enough to work hard and work hard.
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