Headlines in recent weeks have pointed once again to the tendency for the highest salaries and remuneration to keep increasing faster than those of other employees (see Fairfax news: “Bosses’ pay rises outpace workers’”). The highest paid government department heads have salary packages of well over $600,000, according to the latest figures from the State…
I’ve just been going over the results of Roy Morgan’s August opinion poll, and they’re clear: inequality and poverty are the most pressing issues for New Zealanders. In the poll, 15 per cent say that “Poverty/ The Gap Between Rich & Poor/ Imbalance of Wealth” is the most important issue the country faces – more…
People listening recently to Morning Report may have heard the World Bank’s chief economist, Kashik Basu, noting that the bank had two new goals that confirm inequality’s position in the mainstream of world thinking. The first was to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty; the second, to make sure that countries were…
Anyone who missed the conference in Wellington last month on inequality can now see the presentations on the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies website: http://igps.victoria.ac.nz/events/previous_events-2013.html#Jul. In one of the presentations, Michael Forster from the OECD points out that the top 1% in New Zealand have had 20% of total income growth in the last 20…
Q+A this morning did an extended segment on inequality, focussing on law wages. Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis contributor Robert Wade put the case for tackling inequality, and in particular stopping income being diverted towards the top. Bill English then put a counter-view, arguing that the government is already tackling inequality by trying to build…
The Backbencher Pub was packed out for the filming of the Back Benches show last night. Among the issues that the panel of MPs was asked about was inequality. Wallace Chapman introduced the topic by reminding the panel that income inequality has increased faster in NZ than other developed countries. It’s a fast paced programme…