A wealth of inequality
Cold, hard economic proof that the poor is getting poorer and the way it is playing out in the Western world.
We are going ‘big picture’ on Counting the Cost this week with the type of stuff which questions the whole financial system around us. Because as you will see, the rich are still getting richer while the middle class and the poor struggle with the little they have.
Do you remember the Occupy movement?
The one that started in Wall Street where the protestors who railed against a system they believe empowered the very Wall Street which brought Western economies to their knees.
Well now, big-name economists like Thomas Pikkerty are effectively doing it too – highlighting the flaws in Western capitalism, that enrich the few at the expense of the many.
Our data shows that the cold hard economics acknowledge the inequality and that hollowing out the middle class and pushing down wages is detrimental to any economy.
Laurence Lee has this in-depth report on the ‘Zero Hour contracts’… where you have a job, but only just. We build on what Laurence outlined in his report with Duncan Exley, the executive director of the Equality Trust in London.
The price of over-fishing
We head to the north east coast of Canada to an island called Newfoundland, where commercial fishing once supported hundreds of remote communities.
But fishing turned to overfishing and now these little outposts are in the decline. The government’s even paid for people to move out, but those who have stayed? – they are finding new ways to live and work.
Find out more with another special report by Daniel Lak.
Uber trouble
Finally, you might have seen the headlines about Uber this past week. There was “Uber valued at $18bn “…. but there was also “Protests against Uber block roads across Europe”.
It is basically a mobile app you use to hail a cab. But such technology is shaking up the way business is currently done.
Uber and its bretheren are a real threat to traditional taxis… for example the Black Cab drivers in London who say only they are allowed, under law, to have meters in their cars.
So they protested in their numbers in many cities across Europe making it tough for people to get around. It backfired though when it was revealed that Uber has an 850 percent rise in people downloading its app!
We talk more about disruptive technologies with Ben Holmes.
Watch each week at the following times GMT: Friday: 2230; Saturday: 0930; Sunday: 0330; Monday: 1630. Click here for more Counting the Cost . Follow Kamahl Santamaria @KamahlAJE and business editor Abid Ali @abidoliverali . |
