Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category
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Leaner government, less crime
Dec. 16, 2011
… the key is income inequality. The only three cities in the country with double-digit violent crime increases were all boom towns… where the influx of wealth drove up criminal opportunity… Every other city saw declines, because they suffered more economically over that period than they benefited. Less disposable income equals less vice, equals less gang crime, equals fewer homicides… The only two other cities with increases at all – both single digit – were… both economically devastated… (They) demonstrate that economic desperation — true poverty — drives people to crime.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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A novel solution to inequality: Pay poor people more
Dec. 9, 2011
The OECD says that inequality is growing even in countries we think of as paragons of egalitarianism… This trend looks set to continue. The developed world’s cherished standards of living are under fierce assault. This is especially the case in Europe… Reversing it, however, should require a focus on alleviating poverty, not reducing the stock of wealth further… perhaps by setting a higher minimum wage (many countries do not have one). A concerted effort to pay poor people more would help to bring the minimum closer to the median wage in rich countries.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Inequality Is Not Inevitable
Dec. 8, 2011
The paper… considers the many economic and social factors that contribute to high poverty and rising inequality… Poverty and inequality are complex problems that require a set of linked interventions related to affordable housing, early childhood development and child care, education and skills training, and decent employment opportunities that pay a living wage. This paper focuses, however, upon the crucial redistributive role of the federal government through income security programs and a progressive income tax system.
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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OECD calls time on trickle down theory
Dec. 5, 2011
Trickle down theory is dead. The belief fostered by Ronald Reagan in the U.S. and Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. in the 1980s, that if the rich got richer, their income and wealth would trickle down the income scale so that a rising tide lifted all the boats, has had the last rites pronounced on it – by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Its report “Divided We Stand” published on Monday highlights how income inequality is rising almost everywhere in the developed world.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Canada’s wage gap at record high: OECD
Dec. 05, 2011
“Income inequality increased during both recessionary and boom periods, and it has increased despite employment growth”… The richest 1 per cent of Canadians saw their share of total income rise to 13.3 per cent in 2007 from 8.1 per cent in 1980… Two factors explain Canada’s growing gap: a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution. “Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD countries”
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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The Wrong Inequality
October 31, 2011
… two forms of inequality exist in modern America. They are related but different… The zooming wealth of the top 1 percent is a problem, but it’s not nearly as big a problem as the tens of millions of Americans who have dropped out of high school or college. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the 40 percent of children who are born out of wedlock. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the nation’s stagnant human capital, its stagnant social mobility and the disorganized social fabric for the bottom 50 percent. If your ultimate goal is to reduce inequality, then you should be furious at the doctors, bankers and C.E.O.’s. If your goal is to expand opportunity, then you have a much bigger and different agenda.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Idealism in a ‘deeply cynical age’
Nov. 13, 2011
… we have a political system which has fallen into the hands of the corporate lobbies and we have a business elite which violates the law with alarming frequency and a Wall Street financial centre which not only broke the law but helped to create one of the most painful financial disasters in economic history that we’re still living through. That’s why people are upset. They want a restoration of democracy. They want money out of the political system and they want a fairer economy.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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Oligarchy, American Style
November 3, 2011
… protesters who portray themselves as representing the interests of the 99 percent have it basically right, and the pundits solemnly assuring them that it’s really about education, not the gains of a small elite, have it completely wrong… almost two-thirds of the rising share of the top percentile in income actually went to the top 0.1 percent… rising inequality has meant a nation in which most families don’t share fully in economic growth… extreme concentration of income is incompatible with real democracy… the truth is that the whole nature of our society is at stake.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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Why Income Inequality Suddenly Matters
Nov. 11, 2011
… we believed that “it is OK to have ever-greater differences between rich and poor … as long as (our) children have a good chance of grasping the brass ring.” … However, the last three decades have invalidated our standing hypothesis… Of course, some class mobility still exists. The trouble is that it’s primarily of the downward kind… data from the [OECD] show that social mobility in uber-capitalist America is actually lower than in most industrialized countries… And this is why, among all the fights over economic policy, the debate about taxes is the most crucial of all.
Tags: economy, standard of living, tax
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The 1% are the very best destroyers of wealth the world has ever seen
Nov. 7, 2011
The findings… are devastating to the beliefs that financial high-fliers entertain about themselves… They show that traders and fund managers throughout Wall Street receive their massive remuneration for doing no better than would a chimpanzee flipping a coin… Egocentricity, a strong sense of entitlement, a readiness to exploit others and a lack of empathy and conscience are also unlikely to damage their prospects in many corporations… This is not to suggest that all executives are psychopaths. It is to suggest that the economy has been rewarding the wrong skills.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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