Capital Gains Tax

[BlackPeter]

Inequality is not a problem. The problem in society, which is often blamed on inequality, is poverty at the lower end of the scale. Does anyone who has adequate housing, and all the material goods he wants or needs, plenty of food, clothing etc, really care that some people have a lot more?

It is if you have on one end of the spectrum people who make not 10, not hundred but often thousand times (or more) of the income of the average person. Nobody works that hard - i.e. this wealth is basically stolen from less lucky people.

These super rich people start to control society and are able to buy public opinion and political favours. They are in many countries able to buy justice - even in NZ it can make a huge difference for the outcome of a trial whether you are able to fork out a couple of 100k for a good lawyer - or not. Ask the people who still wait for a settlement of their EQC claim.

Look no further than the US, Russia or e.g. Brazil to see how these things effect societies. Inequality kills democracies and turns them into oligarchies controlled by strongmen.

It is inequality which makes the rich people richer and the poor people poorer - it is a vicious cycle. Just look at how the recent crisis effects the rich in the US. The rich people (the reserve bank cares about) got richer (many doubled their share portfolios) and the poor people without political power lost their jobs.