The "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which spread to many cities around the world last fall, once again brought the never-ending question of income inequality to the forefront of public debate. Concerns about this issue have also been fed by studies that have appeared over the past year, especially those from the Conference Board of Canada and the OECD. However, even though these studies present data showing that income inequality in Canada has been tending to increase, the interpretation of their conclusions is not as obvious as it might appear at first glance.

In its 2012-2013 Budget, the Canadian government announced its intention to gradually raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security benefits from 65 to 67. Future generations will surely come to see this as a timid adjustment measure. If life expectancy keeps rising as expected, government policies in this area will need to be guided by a new paradigm for retirement.

Media release :: Old Age Security at 67: a timid, belated adjustment

Analysis on increasing life expectancy and public pension benefits.

Review of the federal government's spending and workforce cuts.

The Quebec public sector debt.

The Quebec public sector debt.

Budget 2012-2013: Letter to Minister of Finance of Quebec.

Tabling of the 2012-2013 budget by the Quebec government.

The financing of the Quebec Pension Plan.

New rules for the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans.

The province of Quebec's economic performance.

Economic predictions for 2012.

New rules for the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans.

Most industrialized countries have been grappling with large budget deficits since the start of the financial crisis in 2008. Among the solutions often put forward is increasing the tax burden of the "rich." In the United States, following an opinion piece written by billionaire Warren Buffett, President Barack Obama suggested to Congress that it should raise taxes on the rich. This is also the case in France, which just enacted a "temporary" surtax of 3% on incomes over 250,000 euros and of 4% on incomes over 500,000 euros.