While US President Barack Obama may have intended his remarks about inequality in the USA he could have been speaking of anywhere when he said, “over the last few decades, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther apart, and the middle class has shrunk.” That widening inequality is often the result of the choices governments make in how they allocate resources, their perception of reality and their own personal circumstances. It is also the result of a powerful and troubling shift in market rewards for a small minority relative to the rewards available to most citizens.
It is unfortunate that there is a paucity of quality and relevant statistics even on the most basic of information. On the few occasions when stats are available they are suspect. No one, not even the Minister of Finance believes the only indicator of employed persons in Guyana. The National Insurance Scheme has only 116,000 active employees in 2012. The Minister of Finance
