Do the Rich Deserve Their Wealth?

Attitudes about wealthy individuals vary greatly across countries, shaped by a multitude of issues.

Research company Globescan has produced a poll by country that asks individuals whether they agree that most rich people in their nation deserve their wealth. As the Economist notes, culture appears to play a role. Anglo-Saxon nations such as the U.K., Australia, Canada and the U.S. tend to agree with the statement more readily, while Europeans and Latin Americans are more skeptical.

But there are also political and economic issues at play. Communist China ranks relatively high, likely because economic growth in the country has pulled so many people out of poverty in recent years. Growth may even supersede views of corruption. Indonesia and India, two countries along with China that rank high in Transparency International＊s index of corruption perceptions, also tend to be more sanguine about their rich. But both those countries have benefited from decent economic growth.

Clearly, the worst attitudes toward the rich are in places where corruption is high and economic growth is low. Greece, which sits at the bottom of the list with just 9% of respondents agreeing that the rich deserve their wealth, also has the worst economy and one of the highest perceptions of corruption.

The below sortable chart shows the percentage of people in each country who ※agree§ or ※strongly agree§ that the rich deserve their wealth, it also includes the Corruption Perceptions Index score (a high number means less corruption), and the annual growth rate of GDP from 2007 to 2011.