Five Good Ideas about how to tackle inequality

Rising income inequality has become another inconvenient truth of our era, and every bit as unsustainable as climate change for our economy, our communities, our politics and our future.

But raise the question “how do we turn things around?” and you are met with three responses:

a) Nothing can be done (and it’s not that big a deal anyway);
b) Government should fix it; and
c) The solution is worse than the problem.

This session addresses those three responses and suggests five things that we can do to reduce income inequality and offset its most costly and corrosive effects. We can take action in our daily lives, through our businesses, and at every level of public life and governance. We can be a beacon for growth that delivers shared prosperity and maximizing development potential in an aging world. What we cannot do is ignore the trends for another five years. Our future success depends on action, now.

Five Good Ideas

1. Don’t make things worse
2. Boost the economy from the bottom up
3. Tax. It’s not a four-letter word
4. Support the sagging middle
5. Shift happens. Be part of the culture change

Five Good Resources

1. Study of Income Inequality in Canada – What Can Be Done?
2. Making Every Job A Good Job and Why the Minimum Wage Debate Isn’t Going To Go Away
3. Tax Is Not A Four-Letter Word
4. Alternative Federal Budget 2014
5. WageMark