Social Policy in Ontario

While the free enterprise system has the incentive to generate wealth, it has no desire to distribute it fairly. The economic collapse of 2008 once and for all showed that market forces cannot handle the twin task of generation and fair distribution of wealth.

The good news is that the conversation about social problems due to unfair income distribution is becoming mainstream. For example, the conservativeEconomist magazine has seriously started writing about the decline of social mobility in the world.

The bad news is that the right refuses to lay blame on the banks and Wall Street for inequality. It blames unions and government spending as the main culprit and wants action in that front.

The effect of a downsized government and weakened union will be reduced wages, poorer health, lowered life expectancy, and undermined education; the main causes of social injustice and inequality.

History has shown that the market will overcome this recession as well, although a government’s visible hand can accelerate this process.

However, the main challenge of our time will be managing the distribution of wealth through a fair model of taxation.

The only hope for getting the right on board with this idea is to convince it that a fair distribution of wealth through a deliberate intervention will increase growth and productivity, through opening up opportunities to a wider population and fighting monopolies and special interests, which are pre-requisites in a hyper-competitive global economy.

Ali Orang, Richmond Hill

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/1308920–at-least-inequality-is-on-the-radar >