The Occupy Wall Street movement expresses an underlying desire for fairness and equality in the economy and our society. Here are five big reasons for people in British Columbia to support Occupy Wall Street.
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1. The gap is growing, fast!
The gap between the rich and everyone else is growing faster in Canada than almost everywhere else in the developed world. According to the Conference Board of Canada, our income gap has been growing faster than the United States since the mid 1990's.
2. Corporate profits are way up. Corporate taxes are way down.
Corporate profits quadrupled in BC in the 1990s and doubled again in the 2000s. On top of increasing pre-tax profits, corporations are paying less tax than ever. Tax cuts since 2001 have robbed public services of more than $12 billion combined.
3. The wealthiest 1% are richer than ever!
In the last ten years, the wealthiest 1% have had an average pay hike of over $200,000, or a whopping 36%. PLUS, tax cuts in BC alone put an average of $41,000 more a year in their pockets. That’s right, because of the BC Liberals, the wealthiest one per cent are saving more in taxes than the combined annual salary of two minimum wage earners.
4. You aren’t richer than you think
Since 1980, real wages have stagnated as the cost of living has increased. Low interest rates and easy credit allowed people to keep spending, but now most of us are carrying huge debt. On top of that, we are paying more in regressive fees like MSP. This year, families paid more in MSP premiums than corporations paid in BC Income tax.
5. Corporations are holding cash, not investing in jobs
Despite benefiting from record profits in the last 10 years and massive tax cuts, corporations in BC aren’t investing in our economy. In fact, investment in machinery and equipment is down 20 per cent from historical averages as a percentage of our economy.
