The Politics of Inequality

How would you describe the differences between inequality in Canada and in the U.S.?

In both countries, at one end of the spectrum, we have poverty, and on the other, we have the 1%. Actually, I should say the .01%, because that is the group I am most afraid of. In the U.S., this rarified group of some 10,000 families is frighteningly rich and powerful, and has increased its share of wealth vastly since the 1960’s. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to most people. We’re all used to reading about the CEOs of companies like Google becoming extremely rich. What is more disturbing is what is happening on Wall Street: In the last 30 years, its leaders’ share of all available U.S. profits skyrocketed from a modest eight per cent to 40 per cent. They now hold something like $15 trillion dollars’ worth of assets. These are extremely powerful individuals.

Is this not an issue in Canada?

It is much less of a problem here. In Canada, inequality has grown substantially in comparison to Europe, but it has not grown much relative to