Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Study of Income Inequality in Canada—What Can Be Done
CCPA Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan was among the witnesses who testified to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance as part of the committee’s ongoing study of income inequality. Armine discusses income inequality—giving us cause to consider what inaction could mean—and shares some recommendations on how the federal government can play an important role in offsetting growing income inequality and the problems it unleashes.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
‘We can and should raise this lucky elite’s taxes’
… there are “studies” from think tanks funded by the wealthy claiming that imposing high taxes on the wealthy is a terrible thing. The overwhelming evidence from history, however, is that high tax rates on the wealthy, even rates far above current levels, are consistent with robust economic growth… What would raising tax rates at the top accomplish? It would, to some extent, mitigate the rise in inequality… Mainly, however, the benefit of higher tax rates on the wealthy would simply be that it would raise more revenue.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Some cracks in the technocrat cult
In their seminal 2012 book, “Why Nations Fail,” Acemoglu and Robinson offered a powerful new framework for understanding why some societies thrive and others decline – those based on inclusive growth succeed, while those where growth is extractive wither… In particular, they believe we need to be cautious about “good” economic policies that have the side effect of either reinforcing already dominant groups or weakening already frail ones.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada’s inequality non-problem
“Negative growth,” or in our case the slowdown in growth, did raise inequality… But, just as they’re supposed to do, the progressive income tax system and the welfare state more or less offset this increase in inequality… The big story out of these numbers is that the safety net worked exactly as intended. It didn’t perfectly offset the rise in inequality resulting from the turmoil in the labour market. But it offset most of it.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Head of Canadian Medical Association wants to draw attention to root causes of illness
Doctors at the CMA are… experts at seeing the negative downstream effects of these inequities… An estimated 20 per cent of the $200 billion Canada spends on health care every year is attributable to socio-economic disparities, such as early childhood education and family income… “The larger the income disparity, the worse the health gets,” Reid said. Income is the No. 1 social determinant on health and longevity, she said, followed by early childhood development and education.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, homelessness, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Political expediency trumps First Nations issues
Problems go unaddressed, and bureaucrats in Ottawa treat these communities with remote detachment. The solution, from the colonial office’s perspective, has been to blame the victims. This approach was made crystal clear when Prime Minister Harper, by denigrating sociology, scoffed at people who look for root causes and underlying reasons for social problems… In a world of simple solutions… we find that First Nations issues are ignored today while the government’s ideological agenda and appeal to the Conservative party’s base forms its aboriginal policy.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, Indigenous, rights, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
The Spirit Level Slides
The PowerPoint file… contains 38 of the more important graphs shown on this web site and/or published in The Spirit Level. We hope you will use them in talks, lectures or discussion groups to help increase people’s understanding of the effects of inequality. The slides (and the graphs contained within them) can be downloaded and used freely without permission, on condition you acknowledge their source: The Spirit Level, Wilkinson & Pickett, Penguin 2009.
Tags: child care, corrections, crime prevention, economy, featured, Health, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Supreme Court reaffirmed Canadian balance on free speech
Mar 17 2013
“It’s a very wise decision. It balances free speech with the need to limit hate… “Canadians value free speech but not to the extent that you may bring women, gays, Jews or Muslims or whoever into hatred and contempt. “The court has reflected the way Canadians see the issue.”
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Conference Board findings on poverty, inequality should spur change
Feb 05 2013
…the Conference Board of Canada finds in its latest report on How Canada Performs… our national performance is downright “troubling for a wealthy country” when it comes to some key social indicators including the rich/poor gap, and the number of working-age adults and children living in poverty… the child poverty rate has gone up to 15.1 per cent from 12.8 in the past 15 years; working-age poverty rose to 11.1 per cent from 9.4 and poverty among the elderly went to 6.7 per cent from 2.9.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Makers, Takers, Fakers
Jan. 27, 2013
Mr. Romney… was just repeating a view that has become increasingly dominant inside the right-wing bubble, namely that a large and ever-growing proportion of Americans won’t take responsibility for their own lives and are mooching off the hard-working wealthy. Rising unemployment claims demonstrate laziness, not lack of jobs; rising disability claims represent malingering, not the real health problems of an aging work force. And given that worldview, Republicans see it as entirely appropriate to cut taxes on the rich while making everyone else pay more.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Recent Comments