tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post8380504196617690758..comments2009-07-28T06:24:38.254-04:00Ben Burdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06372169478978720740ben@eagle.caBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-78643569537266483382009-07-27T22:27:23.873-04:002009-07-27T22:27:23.873-04:00I rode my two-wheeler to the library, Wally; you can do the same. What&#39;s more, if you do, I&#39;ll meet you at Dreamers and treat you to a cuppa&#39;.William Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14237954496211789520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-6300617024339140752009-07-27T15:39:49.154-04:002009-07-27T15:39:49.154-04:00So William, which societies did better because they were more equal? Just name three or four of them. You did read the book. But then again, I expect you to weasel out of it as you often do.Wally Keelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02370532557074561490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-33789525943763977572009-07-27T15:33:46.557-04:002009-07-27T15:33:46.557-04:00Perhaps with your new found insights, William, you might want to step up to the plate and provide a paragraph or two on how &quot;more equal societies almost always do better.&quot;<br /><br />But then again, you can alway do the weasel thing and shirkWally Keelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02370532557074561490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-36528226850562473952009-07-26T13:41:18.916-04:002009-07-26T13:41:18.916-04:00Re: <i>The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better</i>, Wilkinson &amp; Pickett<br /><br />For those with the time to read, I&#39;m returning this book to the library in Port Hope tomorrow.William Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14237954496211789520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-18482036142576549742009-07-24T19:19:16.160-04:002009-07-24T19:19:16.160-04:00Well, Deb, the study referenced in <i>The Spirit Level</i> is as follows:<br /><br />J. Weeks, <i>Inequality Trends in Some Developed OECD Countries</i>. Working Paper No. 6. New York: United Nations Departmentnt of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005.William Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14237954496211789520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-12912544563666712812009-07-23T17:45:22.537-04:002009-07-23T17:45:22.537-04:00I sure don&#39;t want to mess in with any argument Wally wants to start with Bill, but I will pipe up to say I&#39;m not sure I agree with this book Bill quotes from.<br /><br />Bill says according to the book, declining union membership is the biggest single factor in the increase in income disparity. His own comment only stated this was part of the reason and I want to be clear my quarrel is not with Bill, but the book.<br /><br />What about the role played by tax cuts, especially in the upper income brackets? While I don&#39;t know a lot about the economies of all the countries studied, I certainly know the governments of Canada, Australia and the USA have been slashing taxes for a long time now, and it surely is not the rank and file that has benefited.<br /><br />Certainly we all lose when union membership declines, and it breaks my heart to hear people saying we may have needed unions in the past but not any longer. <br /><br />It&#39;s the same as these silly young women who say we don&#39;t need feminism anymore because women have achieved equal rights now. <br /><br />I even hear there are those who think racism is all over too, now that Obama is president. <br /><br />If only finding justice was that easy.Deb Onoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-41595829256803966852009-07-23T15:59:13.598-04:002009-07-23T15:59:13.598-04:00&quot;Why more equal societies almost always do better&quot;<br /><br />Bill, since you have read it, perhaps you can identify those specific societies that are &#39;equal&#39; and do better than, well, some other specific countries.<br /><br />What 10 countries, er, uh, societies, are the most equal in the world. Equal in terms of what? Income? Questions Bill.Wally Keelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02370532557074561490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-61062433704982542252009-07-20T14:40:04.678-04:002009-07-20T14:40:04.678-04:00Re support for community centre:<br /><br />Greg had better tell John Draper that he doesn&#39;t support the latest entry in this Council&#39;s quest for a legacy. <br /><br />Mr. Draper thinks it is only Martin Partridge who opposes it. As usual, he is wrong. You can count me in for your side, Martin, and I think there are more than a few of us.Deb O'Connornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-85460081330637934932009-07-19T12:46:14.302-04:002009-07-19T12:46:14.302-04:00Ben states that organised labour&#39;s support for Obama was based on his promised change for union organizing methods. The change was to include the <i>card check</i>, which allows certification of a union after a majority of eligible members sign a union card.<br /><br />The reason why this is important for all of us: the declining power of trade unions was partly responsible for the widening of income differences from the 1980s onwards. Declining trade union membership has been found to be &quot;the most important single factor&quot; influencing trends towards income inequality in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.--discussed in <i>The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better</i>, Wilkinson &amp; Pickett, p. 241-2.William Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14237954496211789520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23948057.post-14074078262276654852009-07-18T13:44:40.451-04:002009-07-18T13:44:40.451-04:00Nothing in the planning of this project seems to deal with cost overuns. For instance if there is a 20% cost overun it would mean an extra $5.8 million to be paid by the public through municipal taxes. A 40% overrun would lead to another $11.6 million on our local tax bill.<br /><br />Overruns of this magnitude are quite common on publicly funded projects, especially when there are so many committees and nobody is in overall charge.<br /><br />Since the funding will be totally public money I would like to see free day passes for Cobourg citizens, otherwise the project is robbing the poor to benefit the rich.<br /><br />Unless tedious operating problems such as construction overruns and getting universal access can be solved I don&#39;t see how any responsible person, or responsible councillor, could vote for this project.Greg Hancocknoreply@blogger.com