There’s been much discussion over the past decades about income inequality and how much it matters. Canada, as the story goes, has a fairly stable distribution of wealth, meaning the distance between the top and bottom income earners is not significantly widening.
Contrast this with the U.S., where income inequality has been rising for decades as the rich capture ever greater shares of wealth compared to the poor and middle class. According to Goldman Sachs, the richest one percent of Americans now accounts for over half the value of equities owned by U.S. households, and the top one percent owns 50 per cent of total wealth.
It’s tempting for Canadians to feel smug about this, but should we?
In fact, inequality in the Greater Victoria region — where the cost of living is rising faster than real incomes — is trending in the wrong direction. As we showed in our annual Prosperity Index this past May, our region has higher income inequality than its peer cities.
This is an excerpt from Douglas magazine. To read the full article please visit: https://www.douglasmagazine.com/opinion-the-pandemic-is-accelerating-our-regions-inequality-but-micro-credentials-can-help-address-this/