To the Editor,
Re: Gap between rich and poor is not a new development, Letters, June 14.
I find it interesting how Jim Corder in one breath admits he is not an economist, and with his next breath, tells us income inequality has been widening since the 1930s.
An odd way to convince people.
His statement though, is wrong, dead wrong.
The income gap has not been widening since the 1930s, it’s only been widening since the 1970s. At the end of the Second World War and with the creation of social safety nets in the west, the income gap was much smaller. Home ownership was up, tuition was low, and jobs were aplenty. These were the days of Leave It To Beaver, Johnny Carson, and the rise of the middle-class.
This trend continued until the mid-1970s when it was reversed by a fantastic idea: neo-liberal economics.
Yes, the same word spewed by those very “students” and “protesters” and “environmentalists” who Corder fears most. The same word spewed by those damn progressives.
But in the mid-1970s, as soon as the taxes were lowered and the regulations axed and the unions busted, the income gap began to increase – and continues to do so today.
Today, much like the during the Great Depression, the invisible hand of the market is dominated by the greedy hands of the super rich, who capitalize on deregulated markets to increase their already mountainous piles of wealth. Wealth that never trickles down.
Unlike Corder suggests, we should not “emulate them.”
Like the “students” and “protesters” and “environmentalists” suggest, markets should be sufficiently regulated so those who barely make dust can have a fair shake at a decent life. A life that’s more equal.
David Geselbracht
Nanaimo