A new Conference Board of Canada report should be an eye-opener to those who think that high unemployment and changes in the EI rules that will penalize seasonaal workers are nothing to worry about.
"Canada places 7th and gets a “B” grade in the Society report card.
Despite the solid performance, high rates of poverty and a large gap in
income between the rich and everyone else put stress on a society and
on the economy. Rising poverty rates and greater income inequality can
mean a weakening in labour force attachment and social cohesion."
(Emphasis added.)
Who comes in first? The usual suspects: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Finland and Austria, in that order. The US is 17th: Paul Krugman would understand.
(BTW, my intention had been to stop blogging regularly here, but obviouslyl I can't, not when there are interesting things to point out. So stay tuned: there may not be new material everyday, but there will be frequently...)
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Hi Mary. Nobel laureate economist Joe Stiglita in his book, The Price of Inequality, chronicles how the greater part of modern inequality derives not from merit or market forces but through government policy and legislation. He makes the case quite convincingly that, for the past three decades, our governments have implemented an enormous transfer of unearned wealth out of the middle class directly to the richest of the rich.
This is accomplished through "industry-friendly" legislation, tax policy; grants, subsidies and deferrals; and the provision of public resources either free or at far beneath their market value.
To the extent the working classes have seen their incomes stagnate at best or been impoverished it is largely the work of our governments in their turn to authoritarian corporatism.
And where are the politicians railing against these outrages? The Libs and New Dems are eerily mute. Such is reality in a 21st century petro-state.
Excellent points.
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