Rich-poor gap

[huy.duong@ctsu.ox.ac.uk]

<<<HANOI, July 22 (Kyodo) _ The founder of the renovation policy in Vietnam
has called for attention from local and central authorities to the widening
gap between the rich and the poor in the Mekong delta, an organ daily
of the Vietnamese Communist Party reported Tuesday.

"The gap between the rich and poor has recurred in quite a few places
in the Mekong delta," Nguyen Van Linh, former general secretary of the
ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, said in an article published by the
Nhan Dan (People) daily after his recent fact-finding tour of the country's
largest rice-producing area in the south.>>>

Cha`o ca'c ba'c,

*One part* of the growth of rich-poor gap is an inevitable
consequence of a growing economy and has nothing to do with injustice.
Consider this illustration:

I earn 200USD/year. My friend earns 500USD/year. The gap is 
300USD/year. Suppose the economy is growing so that in 5 years
I double my income to 400USD/year. If my friend also doubles his
income, it is quite `fair'. But the gap has now grown to 600USD/year. 

Perhaps *other parts* of the growth of the rich-poor gap
is unjust. I don't know...

Huy