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By Obert Madondo, on May 2, 2013, at 12:22 pm By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: The right-wing’s regressive anti-union rhetoric and U.S.-styled attacks on the labour movement threatens Canada’s prosperity, says a report recently released by the progressive Canadian think tank Broadbent Institute. The report expresses grave concern about the Conservative government’s current political agenda and “highly-organized right-wing campaign to import American-style [...]
The post Conservatives attack on unions a threat to shared prosperity in Canada, says Broadbent Institute appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
By Lorne, on April 12, 2013, at 3:01 pm I hope everyone will take five minutes to watch this video, originally considered too controversial for TED Talks. The speaker, entrepreneur Nick Hanauer, very deftly cuts through the mythology perpetuated by the right wing that the super-rich are our job creators and hence must be treated with taxation kid gloves.
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By Norman Farrell, on March 26, 2013, at 4:24 pm Incomes of bottom 90 percent grew $59 in 40 years, Natasha Lennard, Salon.com
“Pulitzer Prize-winner David Cay Johnston has highlighted yet more statistics that illuminate the spike in income inequality in the U.S. in recent decades. Flagging Johnston’s analysis, HuffPo noted Monday, ‘Incomes for the bottom 90 percent of Americans only grew by $59 on average between 1966 and 2011 (when you adjust those incomes for inflation)… During the same period, the average income for the top 10 percent of Americans rose by $116,071.’ …
“Plot those numbers on a chart, with one inch for $59, and
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Income disparity grows
By Obert Madondo, on February 26, 2013, at 3:36 pm By Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Jan. 26, 2013: A new study by two economists from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), an independent left-leaning policy research institute, says Canada’s tax system is in dire need of “fairness” reform. Marc Lee and Iglika Ivanova argue that “ad-hoc tax changes over the last two decades have seriously weakened the redistributive role READ MORE
By Guest Blog, on February 4, 2013, at 3:29 pm by Conference Board of Canada | Feb. 4, 2013: OTTAWA – Canada has been unable to reverse the rise in income inequality – and poverty rates – that occurred in the 1990s. Low rankings on these social equity measures mar an otherwise solid “B” grade in The Conference of Canada’s Society report card, released today. Canada places 7th in the How Canada Performs: Society analysis, READ MORE
By Owen Gray, on February 4, 2013, at 9:15 am The Conference Board keeps churning out reports which should embarrass the Harper government. The Board’s latest report ranks Canada 7th out of 17 developed countries in terms of quality of life. It’s interesting that, in terms of falling crime rates, we are doing very well — although, if you believe what the government tells us, it’s not well enough.
But what is truly disturbing is the growing rate of income inequality:
In Canada, the gap between rich and poor has widened over the past 15 years, and the board says all age groups have felt the change — with both
. . . → Read More: Northern Reflections: Regression
By Obert Madondo, on January 28, 2013, at 12:54 pm by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Jan. 28, 2013: Remember Occupy, Canada? A new Statistics Canada analysis of income trends among Canadian taxfilers from 1982 to 2010, released today, confirms three of the many concerns Occupy protesters expressed in late 2011. Concerns relating to income inequality, poverty, corporate greed, etc. First, members of the exclusive club of the top READ MORE
By Norm Farrell, on January 2, 2013, at 4:21 am Libs’ ‘Job Plan’ not enough to tackle poverty, Trish Garner, The Province, Dec 2012
“…B.C. has the largest gap between the rich and the poor, and the highest poverty rate in Canada. Over half-a-million British Columbians live below the poverty line, and most of them have a job, sometimes several, in the paid labour force.
“…In the last 10 years the average household income of the top one per cent in B.C. has increased by 36 per cent while, for the rest of us, real median incomes have stagnated, even though we’re working harder…”
By Norman Farrell, on December 13, 2012, at 3:03 am Is the future healthy when one company’s CEO draws a larger salary between breakfast and lunch, on one day, than a loyal 20 year employee earns in a year? Well, during the four hours that a long time McDonald crew person earned $35, his boss gained $16,827. We might assume it was through better productivity, as in faster delivery of sugar and fat laden factory foods.
Information empire Bloomberg draws a sad portrait of a sick western society. Remember, Bloomberg is not the organ of the Occupy movement; these are guys who plead for the free market variants of capitalism.
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: A society doomed by greed
By Norman Farrell, on November 28, 2012, at 8:10 pm Warren Buffett, the world’s third richest man, appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart along with Carol Loomis, senior editor-at-large for Fortune and author of Tap Dancing to Work. A few quotes: Warren Buffett: “In the last ten years, I have… . . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Business genius talks
By Norman Farrell, on November 23, 2012, at 5:08 am A Failed Experiment, Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, Nov 21/12 “Since the 1950s, the top federal income tax rate has fallen from 90 percent or more to 35 percent. Capital gains tax rates have been cut by more than half since the late 1970s. Finan… . . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Trends
By Norman Farrell, on November 20, 2012, at 6:14 pm Walmart: America’s real ‘Welfare Queen’, Paddy Ryan, Daily Kos, October 2012 ” As many as 80 percent of workers in [U.S.] Wal-Mart stores use food stamps.”Inequality, exhibit A: Walmart and the wealth of American families, Josh Bivens, The Economic Pol… . . . → Read More: Northern Insight: The real Welfare Queen
By Norman Farrell, on November 5, 2012, at 4:33 pm Further to my comments about homeowners subsidizing industrial power, here is an extract from the blog of Vancouver lawyer Jim Quail, Site C and the Kitimat LNG Export Terminal: Christy Clark’s Program for Income Redistribution:
“…Hydro would sell that much power to one corporate mega-project, at industrial tariff rates of around $35 per megawatt hour. That same power would cost Hydro at least $80 per MWh, assuming they built one-and-a-half Site C dams for that purpose, or around $129 per MWh if they bought it from Independent Power Producers. So we’d pay for Site C, through our Hydro
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Take from the poor, give to the rich
By rww, on October 14, 2012, at 8:33 pm
By Christine, on October 7, 2012, at 7:55 am
By The Mound of Sound, on October 2, 2012, at 5:17 pm Forbes, yes that Forbes, the business magazine understands the damage that income inequality is exacting on America’s economy.
New research indicates that growing income inequality isn’t just unpleasant; it is seriously hurting the U.S. economy. And economists are figuring out just how the damage is done, according to a fascinating new article by the journalist Jonathan Rauch in National Journal. This challenges a long-standing consensus that, as Rauch puts it, “inequality is the price America pays for a dynamic, efficient economy. . . . As long as the bottom and the middle are moving up, there is no reason to
. . . → Read More: The Disaffected Lib: Even Forbes Gets It. Why Can’t Steve Harper?
By Norman Farrell, on September 18, 2012, at 4:53 am “In any society where wealth and income concentrate overwhelmingly at the top, the affluent will almost always come to sneer at public services and the men and women who provide them.”
– Sam Pizzigati
By Norman Farrell, on August 1, 2012, at 1:14 pm Harry Reid: Bain Investor Told Me That Mitt Romney ‘Didn’t Pay Any Taxes For 10 Years’, Huffington Post, July 31, 2012
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has what he says is an informed explanation for why Mitt Romney refuses to release additional tax returns. According a Bain investor, Reid charged, Romney didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.
By Norman Farrell, on July 30, 2012, at 3:54 am Corporation That Paid Nothing In Taxes For Four Years Tells Congress It Pays Too Much In Taxes, Think Progress, July 20, 2012
“Over a four years period from 2008 to 2011, Corning Inc. was one of 26 companies that managed to avoid paying any American income taxes, even though it earned nearly $3 billion during that time. In fact, according to Citizens For Tax Justice, the company received a $4 million refund from 2008 to 2010. That didn’t stop Susan Ford, a senior executive at the company, from telling the House Ways and Means Committee this week that America’s
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Liars believe their own lies
By Norman Farrell, on July 17, 2012, at 5:08 pm The Battle of Blair Mountain, Chris Hedges, Truthdig
“…Reduce wages and benefits to subsistence level. Break unions. Gut social assistance programs. Buy and sell elected officials and judges. Fill the airwaves with mindless diversion and corporate propaganda. Pay off the press. Poison the soil, the air and the water to extract natural resources and leave behind a devastated wasteland.
“Plunge workers into debt. Leave them owing more on their houses than the structures are worth. Make sure the children will be burdened by tens of thousands of dollars lent to them for an education and will be unable
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: It is an old and cruel tactic
By Norman Farrell, on July 12, 2012, at 3:31 pm Paying Workers More to Fix Their Own Mess, David Leonhardt, New York Times, March 2009
” ‘We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses — which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.’ — Edward Liddy, chief executive, American International Group
“Ah, retention pay. It has been one of the great rationales for showering money on chief executives and bankers regardless of how well they
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Rewards for success or failure
By Norman Farrell, on June 25, 2012, at 2:36 pm Charles Dickens identified as author of mystery article, Alison Flood, The Guardian, June 25, 2012 An article championing the rights of the working classes, published in one of the journals edited by Dickens for more than 20 years, has been attributed to the author himself
Charles Dickens has been identified as the author of a previously unattributed article which attacks the middle classes for patronising the “working man”.
“Who has not been outraged by observing that cheerfully patronising mode of dealing with poor people which is in vogue at our soup-kitchens and other depôts of alms?,” runs the
. . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Work newly attributed to Charles Dickens
By Nancy Leblanc, on June 13, 2012, at 10:53 pm From Scott Brison, whose motion on the issue passed in the House of Commons today with multi-partisan support: The motion I introduced simply asks that the house of commons direct the finance committee to study income inequality, an issue considered important by an overwhelming majority of Canadians. Then we can engage the business community, which is dealing with issues such as retirement security. We can engage the NGO community, and everyone from food banks to faith based groups that are helping low income Canadians. We can examine what the provinces are doing. We can look at what some governments
. . . → Read More: Impolitical: Two good steps on income inequality
By Norman Farrell, on June 13, 2012, at 1:31 am IMF chief Christine Lagarde warns world risks triple crisis, The Guardian, June 12, 2012
“Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has warned that the world risks a triple crisis of declining incomes, environmental damage and social unrest unless countries adopt a more sustainable approach to economic growth.
“Ahead of the Rio+20 Earth summit later this month, she said the rich should restrain their demands for higher incomes while there are still 200 million people worldwide looking for a job and poverty is on the rise…”
By karl knox, on June 6, 2012, at 11:40 pm Here in Quebec, amidst the nightly demonstrations against the tuition increases and Bill 78, the bill that gave the movement oxygen, we hear a constant drumbeat from media sources that the kids are “spoiled,” or have a sense of “entitlement,” and are perhaps communists. Seriously. It’s tiresome.
Students protest in the downtown streets of Montreal against tuition hikes on May 16, 2012 (AFP Photo/Rogerio Barbosa)
Erica Shaker of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has written a terrific piece about this “scapegoating” of the kids involved and begins by asking a question that should be the starting point for any (Read more…)
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