Income Inequality

System reasons for Income inequality

• Capitalism rewards profit and punishes failure. We are incentivised to make as much as we can
• Some have more sources of income like rent, dividends, intrest. Somedont
• Monopolization / Oligopolization

Social Reasons for Income Inequality

1. People have different physical and mental abilities
   1. Disability
   2. Some people are born to be athletes
2. Skill gap in education and training
3. Some are willing to work harder and longer than others
4. People are willing to take extra risk and responsibility.
   1. Firefighters
   2. Gamblers
5. Family background
   1. Nepotism & connections
   2. Inheritance
6. Market power of certain monopolies and the union strength
7. Discrimination of race, religion, culture, etc.
8. Regional economic disparaties
   1. Alberta economy better due to oil boom

Solutions to Reduce Income Inequality

1. Better public education. Ensure that no 2 tiered system of rich public schoolers and poor peasants is created
2. Welfare state. Using welfare to fund social programs like EI, social security, etc
3. Progressive tax policy. Tax the rich higher rates
4. Equity hiring

Methods of Attack

Relief: Band aid solutions. Solutions that do not address the root causes of poverty. Structural: Building infrastructure and providing training to address the root causes of unemployment