less equal societies almost always have more violence, more disease, more mental health problems, higher infant mortality rates, reduced life expectancies, as well as less social cohesion.

average CEO was making about 25 times the average worker in the late 1970s, today’s average CEO makes roughly 250 times the average worker.

evidence linking extreme inequality with serious economic problems. The level of inequality reached in 2008 was virtually identical to that of 1929, suggesting that large concentrations of wealth at the top create a dynamic leading to reckless financial speculation and Wall Street crashes

people in less equal societies have reduced social mobility.

the top-earning 1 per cent of Canadians almost doubled their share of national income, from 7.7 per cent to 13.8 per cent, over the past three decades.

economists say the benefits to the rich from these tax breaks will far outweigh anything seen by other members of society.

single parents, who account for one in five families with young children and have the highest rate of poverty in this country.

“The families that will most benefit from Harper’s income-splitting promise will be those who need the least help,” says Armine Yalnizyan, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “The higher the income, the bigger the tax break.”

deregulation, free trade, fiscal conservatism (yes, that would be neo-liberal conservatism) -are rewriting the post-war economic and social contract at the expense of the poor and to the benefit of the rich.

globalization may be playing a part.

Technology also plays a role

Changes in household size do seem to be part of the problem. In most countries, there are fewer people per household. Across the OECD, the number of households with only one head has risen from 15% to 20% of the total.

If more families are smaller and therefore not enjoying such economies of scale, more are going to be poorer.

Canada seems to counter the increasingly noted association at the societal level between income inequality and mortality.

no relation within Canada at either the province or metropolitan area level

large scale international capital flows would be associated with the prominence of large international ventures which again could distribute a lot of winnings to a comparatively small (in societal terms) number of beneficiaries.

Whether these shifts were good or bad depends on your political persuasion. Those on the left lament the gaps, often forgetting that the greater income disparities have created bigger incentives to get an education, which has led to a better trained, more productive workforce. The share of American workers with a college degree, 20% in 1980, is over 30% today.

the focus should be on giving everyone a an equal chance to be successful. This might mean making the tax code less regressive by expanding the earned income tax credit, eliminating tax subsidies to the rich, and improving access to quality education.