Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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Different take on inequality
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
Jan 16 2011
In 2009, Sarlo looked at two of the best measurements: adult equivalent incomes and average equivalent consumption. (The former takes into account households of different sizes; the latter reveals how people may have government income or under-reported income.) Sarlo found inequality has barely budged in 35 years. In addition, Canada has one of the highest levels of intergenerational mobility in the developed world. It is consistent with Scandinavian nations and trumps even Sweden. And Statistics Canada studies show that most of us who started with low incomes don’t stay poor.
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Redirecting our rage at the real gravy train
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Jan. 17, 2011
In the 1930s, outrage at the pre-Depression extravagance of the rich, contrasting with the dislocation experienced by masses of Americans, sparked a decade of left-leaning foment. Government expanded income security, directly hired millions of unemployed, and actively supported a new generation of unions to fight for the common folk. Meantime, it reined in business excess through tough financial rules, anti-trust policies, and high taxes on the rich. This time around, there’s been plenty of populist anger – but (so far) it’s been steered in exactly the opposite direction
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality History | No Comments »
Steps to creating a prosperous society
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
16 January 2011
Scholars such as Maddison and others who study human progress find that open trade, entrepreneurs, secure property rights, toleration, moderate taxation and limited and predictable government go a long way to helping everyone prosper in a variety of ways. Such ingredients also provide the revenues necessary for governments to carry out essential functions. But you’d never know such factors matter from reading Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks’ recent column, where they took issue with my characterization of their new book as a rhetorical call to envy instead of a sensible tract on poverty reduction. They argue the gap between the super-wealthy and the rest of us causes higher infant mortality, more crime and other maladies.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Inequality Matters
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Level is the most recent description of a well-established body of literature that demonstrates how greater inequality results in shorter, less healthy lives for people… Even though it may be easier to get their daily calories, the lives of many of my neighbours are as desperate as any Dickensian match girl. While Ms. Wente is right to cry foul at the “financial über-elite,” to dismiss any call for greater equality as irrelevant will not help the situation.
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Equality, a True Soul Food
Sunday, January 9th, 2011
January 1, 2011
Among rich countries, those that are more unequal appear to have more mental illness, infant mortality, obesity, high school dropouts, teenage births, homicides, and so on. They find the same thing is true among the 50 American states. More unequal states, like Mississippi and Louisiana, do poorly by these social measures. More equal states, like New Hampshire and Minnesota, do far better… “Inequality is divisive, and even small differences seem to make an important difference,” Professors Wilkinson and Pickett note. They suggest that it is not just the poor who benefit from the social cohesion that comes with equality, but the entire society.
Tags: crime prevention, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
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Simple solution to inequality problem
Sunday, January 9th, 2011
Jan 09 2011
… the remedy is simple, yet politically unlikely. It is selective tax increases, especially via the income tax. Just after the war we had very progressive taxes on high incomes. These are now gone and high incomes are relieved of those high levies… We have the wealth to provide a Scandinavian level of services if we would only bite the bullet and let the government do its job. We would all, rich and poor alike, be better off with less crime and disorder, better health and less poverty-induced misery and destitution.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Does inequality matter?
Sunday, January 9th, 2011
Jan. 8, 2011
if you want to work up a little moral outrage, Canada’s $6-million CEOs are the wrong target. They are practically paupers compared to the class of hedge-fund managers and investment bankers who make up a good part of the new super-duper global über-elite… “the financial sector has learned how to game the … system of state capitalism.”… They passionately believe that their interests are our interests, even when they’re not.
Tags: globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Why you should care about inequality
Friday, January 7th, 2011
Jan 07 2011
… who will keep Canada from becoming a callous, ever more inequitable nation? You could. Before you dismiss this possibility as utopian or unaffordable, do a quick cost-benefit analysis… You can share more of your income with those who desperately need help… You can talk to your friends and colleagues about living in a country that has returned to pre-Great Depression levels of inequality… You can email or write to your MP, provincial representative or any party leader… You can encourage any organization… to speak out about the disturbing bifurcation of Canadian society…
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
No charges against Canadians who parked funds in tax havens
Friday, January 7th, 2011
Jan. 7, 2011
… of 106 Canadians with bank accounts in the offshore tax haven of Liechtenstein, nobody has been prosecuted and nobody has been fined. While the agency has collected more than $5-million in back taxes and interest from Liechtenstein account holders, critics say the CRA isn’t doing enough to crack down on those hiding assets offshore to escape Canadian taxes… Paille said the government has a double standard, going after waitresses and taxi drivers “to death” while very high earners are encouraged to make voluntary declarations.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Academics critical of skyrocketing pay for CEOs
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Jan. 3, 2010
The total average compensation for Canada’s 100 best-paid CEOs was $6.64 million in 2009, compared to the average Canadian income of $42,988 and the average minimum wage worker’s income of $19,877… “The skyrocketing level of executive pay in Canada and the U.S. is the primary factor that lies behind growing income inequality.” … it is difficult to connect the dots between the actions of a CEO and the company’s stock price… rather than regulate CEO pay, it may be more effective to change the tax treatment of stock options that are granted to executives.
Tags: economy
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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