Once one of the most egalitarian of countries, Japan is now above average among rich nations in its income inequality and, at 14%, has the highest rate of children raised in poverty.

ECONOMIST: Social change in Japan

Attempts to raise standards to match the best South Korea and Finland, among members of the OECD, a club of rich nations have yielded little.

ECONOMIST: Academic excellence: The best or the rest | The

He doesn't accept the view, common among the utopians, that natural endowments like soil and water explain why rich nations are 50 times as prosperous as poor ones.

FORBES: Wealth and Poverty