Income Inequality: unequal distribution of income among individuals. If the degree of inequality is large, the beneficial effects of a country's economic growth will not be felt by everyone
Distribution: way in which the four forms of income (rent, wages, interest, profit) are allocated among productive factors (land, labour, capital, entrepreneurial ability) Wages: regular payments to an employee for labour services. Wages are set by the hour, week, month, or year, or according to the amount of labour produced The Poor: approximately $15 067 for a family of four in a mid-sized Canadian city according to Professor Sarlo (1992) Excerpts from article: "Further, the reports suggest inequality may not be such a bad thing, and that the government, hamstrung by growing spending obligations, may not be able to do much about a concentration of wealth at the top of the social strata anyway. The papers suggest that taxing inequality away would likely be both ineffective and harmful to the economy as a whole. Even though tax policy has made some inroads in reducing poverty, Mr. Davies said that the growing spending commitments will hamper any government’s attempts to redistribute wealth through the tax system. In addition to increasing debts and deficits at the provincial and federal level, the government is facing an aging population, leading to expanding healthcare and old-age security costs. “There is no statistical evidence that inequality affects rates of economic growth [in wealthier countries],” Mr. Dahlby said. Taxes on corporations or the wealthy would be unlikely to bring in enough income to rectify inequality — and would hurt economic growth, taking down poor and rich alike, although probably not equally." |