And the incomes that go into the poverty calculation, are they before or after tax? Are all taxes taken into account if the latter? Are employer-paid benefits (health care, etc.) included? If so, are the equivalent publicly funded parts of the Nordic social infrastructure given similar treatment?

In general, I suspect that the pre-redistribution figures say very little about economies like the Nordic ones and are insanely sensitive to the operative definition of "redistribution." It is in many cases very nearly impossible to tell where the government ends and the rest of society begins, making the distinction between income distribution and income redistribution rather unclear.

For instance, the partly labour-union-managed unemployment insurances handle something on the order of 5 % of GDP - better than 80 % of which comes directly from general revenue, making them one of the largest single items on the finance bills. Are they public or private? Are they "redistribution" or "insurance?" I don't know. Does it matter? Not a whit.

- Jake

And yes, we in Europe might get bread and circus, but in the US I'm not sure, if they haven't somehow managed, to make only circus, but no bread.