Latest news with #economicinequality
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Statistics Canada says income gap hit record high in first quarter
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the income gap between the country's highest and lowest income households reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025. The agency says the difference in the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent of the income distribution and the bottom 40 per cent grew to 49 percentage points in the first three months of the year. Statistics Canada says the measure has increased each year following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first quarter of 2025, it says the increase came as the highest income households gained from investments, while the lowest income households saw wages decline. Those in the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution saw the weakest growth in disposable income in the first quarter at 3.2 per cent compared with a year ago as their average wages edged down 0.7 per cent. The average disposable income for those in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution increased at the fastest pace of any income group in the first quarter of 2025 as they benefited from a 7.7 per cent increase compared with a year earlier. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Statistics Canada says income gap hit record high in first quarter
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the income gap between the country's highest and lowest income households reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025. The agency says the difference in the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent of the income distribution and the bottom 40 per cent grew to 49 percentage points in the first three months of the year. Statistics Canada says the measure has increased each year following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first quarter of 2025, it says the increase came as the highest income households gained from investments, while the lowest income households saw wages decline. Those in the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution saw the weakest growth in disposable income in the first quarter at 3.2 per cent compared with a year ago as their average wages edged down 0.7 per cent. The average disposable income for those in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution increased at the fastest pace of any income group in the first quarter of 2025 as they benefited from a 7.7 per cent increase compared with a year earlier. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025. The Canadian Press
Sky News
09-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News
What is a wealth tax, how would it work in the UK and where else has one?
The idea of a wealth tax has raised its head - yet again - as the government attempts to balance its books. Downing Street refused to rule out a wealth tax after former Labour leader Lord Kinnock told Sky News he thinks the government should introduce one. 2:19 Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said: "The prime minister has repeatedly said those with the broadest shoulders should carry the largest burden." While there has never been a wealth tax in the UK, the notion was raised under Rishi Sunak after the COVID years - and rejected - and both Harold Wilson's and James Callaghan's Labour governments in the 1970s seriously considered implementing one. Sky News looks at what a wealth tax is, how it could work in the UK, and which countries already have one. What is a wealth tax? A wealth tax is aimed at reducing economic inequality to redistribute wealth and to raise revenue. It is a direct levy on all, or most of, an individual's, household's or business's total net wealth, rather than their income. The tax typically includes the total market value of assets, including savings, investments, property and other forms of wealth - minus a person's debts. Unlike capital gains tax, which is paid when an asset is sold at a profit, a wealth tax is normally an annual charge based on the value of assets owned, even if they are not sold. A one-off wealth tax, often used after major crises, could also be an option to raise a substantial amount of revenue in one go. 1:51 How could it work in the UK? Advocates of a UK wealth tax, including Lord Kinnock, have proposed an annual 2% tax on wealth above £10m. Wealth tax campaign group Tax Justice UK has calculated this would affect about 20,000 people - fewer than 0.04% of the population - and raise £24bn a year. Because of how few people would pay it, Tax Justice says that would make it easy for HMRC to collect the tax. The group proposes people self-declare asset values, backed up by a compliance team at HMRC who could have a register of assets. Which countries have or have had a wealth tax? In 1990, 12 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries had a net wealth tax, but just four have one now: Colombia, Norway, Spain and Switzerland. France and Italy levy wealth taxes on selected assets. Colombia Since 2023, residents in the South American country are subject to tax on their worldwide wealth, but can exclude the value of their household up to 509m pesos (£92,500). The tax is progressive, ranging from a 0.5% rate to 1.5% for the most wealthy until next year, then 1% for the wealthiest from 2027. There is a 0.525% municipal wealth tax for individuals with net wealth exceeding 1.7m kroner (about £125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses. Norway also has a state wealth tax of 0.475% based on assets exceeding a net capital tax basis of 1.7m kroner (£125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses, and 0.575% for net wealth in excess of 20.7m kroner (£1.5m). The maximum combined wealth tax rate is 1.1%. The Norwegian Labour coalition government also increased dividend tax to 20% in 2023, and with the wealth tax, it prompted about 80 affluent business owners, with an estimated net worth of £40bn, to leave Norway. Spain Residents in Spain have to pay a progressive wealth tax on worldwide assets, with a €700,000 (£600,000) tax free allowance per person in most areas and homes up to €300,000 (£250,000) tax exempt. The progressive rate goes from 0.2% for taxable income for assets of €167,129 (£144,000) up to 3.5% for taxable income of €10.6m (£9.146m) and above. It has been reported that more than 12,000 multimillionaires have left Spain since the government introduced the higher levy at the end of 2022. Switzerland All of the country's cantons (districts) have a net wealth tax based on a person's taxable net worth - different to total net worth. It takes into account the balance of an individual's worldwide gross assets, including bank account balances, bonds, shares, life insurances, cars, boats, properties, paintings, jewellery - minus debts. Switzerland also works on a progressive rate, ranging from 0.3% to 0.5%, with a relatively low starting point at which people are taxed on their wealth, such as 50,000 CHF (£46,200) in several cantons.
Forbes
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Film 'Wait Until Tomorrow' Opens The Ledger On America's Racial Debt This Fourth Of July.
Poster of the film wait until tomorrow by Osato Dixon For many people living in the US, the Fourth of July is a day when it is traditional to barbecue and celebrate with friends and family. Today marks the signing of the document that laid the foundation of the very principles our great nation has governed by for 249 years, the Declaration of Independence. This document promised liberty and the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right for all of those living within its domain. However, throughout history, these promises for Black Americans have been an uphill battle. For many in the Black American community, this holiday is complex, yet we celebrate with the same national pride as any American would. It brings a difficult question: What happens when a constitutional promise is an asset for some and a compounding debt for others? Filmmaker Osatos Dixon's new documentary Wait Until Tomorrow, which premiered at the 2025 American Black Film Festival, has proven to be more than just a story. But a forensic audit of the debt owed to the Black community. Dixon, a former creative executive at McKinsey & Company, is uniquely suited to explore this concept. With his camera, he is symbolically acting as an analyst, calculating the generational cost of economic inequality in our country. A country that has always dangled the promise of equality and mobility to Black Americans, just "not right now." Film subject from wait until tomorrow The Principal Of The Loan The principal, as it relates to debt, is the initial amount of money or asset lent before any interest; it is the core amount needing to be repaid. The Principle owed to Black Americans was established when the Declaration of Independence was signed. The moment the ink dried on those signatures the contract of liberty for some and bondage for others was put into motion. Wait Until Tomorrow directly taps into the frustration of Black Americans looking for upward mobility in a nation fundamentally designed to keep them bandaged. The name of the title itself is a modern nod to Luther King Jr's Letter From Birmingham Jail. The title also draws a parallel to the impatience Fredrick Douglass felt in 1852 when he gave his powerful speech " What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" For Osato, the inspiration for the film was also from a place of visual intrigue. " I was definitely inspired by the Black and white photos of the Civil Rights movement like Dr. King sitting in his jail cell and renowned photographer Eli Reed." Said Dixon. The striking Black and white imagery coupled with the intimate setting inside people's homes was intentional and gave audiences access to stories that are deeply personal yet very much American. Historical impatience of the Black American community is the driving force behind the film. This impatience signifies that the waiting for economic equality for Black Americans doesn't stop the interest; it inflates the total amount due to the community as a whole. For Dixon, the film aims to tell "hard truths and long histories, and the necessary work ahead." B roll shot from film wait until tomorrow Calculation of the Compounding Interest Dixon's film travels from cities like Atlanta to Detroit, Houston, and D.C. to document the cost of America's broken promises. Throughout the filming process his own definition of the word "opportunity" has shifted. " a living word," Dixon explains. "It's a bridge to something better either in the immediate or long term." "This film documents the stability of the bridge for different Black Americans." The Black American experience is diverse as it is complex, Wait Until Tomorrow artistically highlights this while pushing back on any monolithic views of the Black community. For instance, the film highlights Antonio in Detroit who is a fifth-generation Black business owner whose great-great-great-grandfather escaped slavery to start the business Antonio still runs today. Then there is Armand, a lawyer who was once on food stamps while in grad school after finding out he and his wife were expecting a child. Lastly, Pauline, detailed how reflecting on her mother and grandmother picking cotton drove her to create better opportunities for her sons. Each one of these stores is entered into the metaphorical ledger as itemized debt. Dixon gracefully captures the dignity of his subjects while bringing forth the uncomfortable truth of the forfeiture of generational wealth and systematic penalties on housing and education. " I felt a responsibility to contribute to the conversation of photographing Black America in this way" he notes. Director Osato Dixon, Producer Kelley Robins Hicks, Producer Jamund Washington, Co-writer Kara ... More Murphy The Cinematic Audit Wait Until Tomorrow is so effective due to Dixon's methodology and intentional research. A major contribution to the film was a McKinsey report on the economic state of Black America, but he insists it is not a data-driven film. ' 'The data Ihelped me sharpen the story, but the soul of the film has always been human.' The experiences documented in the film only reinforce the polarizing data represented in the report. As a Fulbright Fellow in Zimbabwe, Dixon served as the cinematographer on the Academy Award-winning documentary Music by Prudence, directed by Roger Ross Williams. Through that experience a key lesson was taught 'Be unafraid and indefatigable…in your determination to capture moments.' The Filmmaker learned the willingness to listen with intent to understand the nuances of the stories being told. All of those lessons were brought to the ethos of this film, which took Dixon and his team three years to complete. Osato's decision to film in black-and-white was a strategic one made to focus the viewers' minds on the story and not solely on the visuals, focus the viewers' mind on the story and not solely on the visual. "Contrast is a big thing within black and white photography," Dixon says. "You don't get much more of a contrast than that. And so your eyes start to see the contrast as you're hearing about the contrast of experiences in America.' Industry expert, Shelly Stewart Settling the Account After any audit action is suggested and should be taken. When asked what question he wants audiences to leave with after seeing the film Osato replied "I wouldn't say that there's a single question, but there are questions," he clarifies. "There will be different questions for different people." Although his answer may not be clear on the surface his actions give the true answer. His goal is to force people to do what he has done for three years: listen. An expert Dixon brought into the film, Shelley Stewart of McKinsey, suggests that the racial gaps in mobility, education, and wealth, that people choose to believe our clothes are in fact still wide open. "My hope is that the film was able to provide an experience for the audience members to listen and understand," Dixon says. As we celebrate this Fourth of July, Dixon's film Wait Until Tomorrow demands that we audit our own ledger and focus on our debts. True patriotism is not defined by flag, colors or fireworks but in the work that is necessary to settle an account that is in default. This film argues that the cost of waiting for equity in this country for black Americans has compounded for far too long and it's time for America to pay her debts. This is not about whether America can afford to do so, but whether we can afford not to.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The Trump-Musk feud exposes America's wealth-hoarding crisis
As the world watches Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly fight over the sweeping legislation moving through Congress, we should not let the drama distract us. There is something deeper afoot: unprecedented wealth concentration – and the unbridled power that comes with such wealth – has distorted our democracy and is driving societal and economic tensions. Musk, the world's richest man, wields power no one person should have. He has used this power to elect candidates that will enact policies to protect his interests and he even bought his way into government. While at the helm of Doge, Musk dramatically reshaped the government in ways that benefit him – for instance, slashing regulatory agencies investigating his businesses – and hollowed out spending to make way for tax cuts that would enrich him. Musk is just one example of the ways in which unchecked concentration of wealth is eroding US democracy and economic equality. Just 800 families in the US are collectively worth almost $7tn – a record-breaking figure that exceeds the wealth of the bottom half of the US combined. While most of us earn money through labor, these ultra-wealthy individuals let the tax code and their investments do the work for them. Under the current federal income tax system, over half of the real-world income available to the top 0.1% of wealth-holders (those with $62m or more) goes totally untaxed. As a result, billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have gotten away with paying zero dollars in federal income taxes in some years, even when their real sources of income were soaring. On the other side, millions of hard-working Americans are struggling to make ends meet. Their anxiety is growing as tariffs threaten to explode already rising costs. A broken tax code means unchecked wealth-hoarding. The numbers are staggering: $1tn of wealth was created for the 19 richest US households just last year (to put that number into perspective, that is more than the output of the entire Swiss economy). That was the largest one-year increase in wealth ever recorded. I have studied this rapidly ballooning wealth concentration, and like my colleagues who focus on democracy and governance, I am alarmed by the increasingly aggressive power wielded by a small number of ultra-wealthy individuals. The good news is, hope is not lost. We can break up this dangerous concentration of wealth by taxing billionaires. There is growing public support for doing just this, even among Republican voters. A recent Morning Consult poll found that 70% of Republicans believed 'the wealthiest Americans should pay higher taxes', up from 62% six years ago. With many of Trump's 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy set to expire this year, legislators have an opportunity to reset the balance driving dangerous wealth-hoarding. Rather than considering raising taxes on middle-class Americans or even households earning above $400,000, they must focus on the immense concentration of wealth among the very top 0.1% of Americans. This would not only break up concentrated wealth, but also generate substantial revenue. One mechanism for achieving this goal is a wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy. The Tax Policy Center recently released an analysis of a new policy called the Five & Dime tax. This proposal would impose a 5% tax on household wealth exceeding $50m and a 10% tax on household wealth over $250m. The Five & Dime tax would raise $6.8tn over 10 years, slow the rate at which the US mints new billionaires, and reduce the billionaires' share of total US wealth from 4% to 3%. While breaking up dangerous wealth concentration is reason enough to tax billionaires, this revenue could be invested in programs that support working families and in turn boost the economy. Lawmakers could opt for high-return public investments like debt-free college, helping working families afford childcare, expanding affordable housing, rebuilding crumbling infrastructure, and strengthening climate initiatives. Ultimately, taxes on the ultra-rich could transform American society for the better and grow the economy by discouraging unproductive financial behaviors and promoting fair competition – leading to a more dynamic and efficient system. Critics will inevitably claim such a tax would stifle economic growth or prove too challenging for the IRS to implement. But in our highly educated nation, the idea that growth and innovation comes from just a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals does not withstand scrutiny. And while there are challenges for administering any bold proposal, America has always been up for a challenge. After witnessing the consequences of billionaire governance firsthand under this administration, Americans understand what's at stake. We are seeing how unchecked, astronomical wealth has corrupted American democracy and stifled the economy. It's not too late to act. Now it's time for lawmakers who care about the country's future to embrace solutions that empower everyone, not just the few at the top. Gabriel Zucman is professor of economics at the University of California Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics
