Redistribution of income, but not as we know it

Two intriguing and not necessarily contradictory stories caught my eye:

As the Trade Unions - aka the Labour Party with money - meet in Manchester, the message is clear:

Trade unions chief Brendan Barber has warned that big spending cuts will make Britain a "dark, brutish and more frightening place".

Elsewhere, the beancounters have a different message:

Executive bonuses are close to their level before the financial crisis, a survey by business advisory firm Deloitte says.

It looks like the big earners are back on track with OTE back to their six and seven figure sums, whilst everyone else - and Unions please note that this includes most of the rest of the private sector - facing the pain.

The failure of Governments - Labour and now the NuWhigs - to control, or even challenge, the dominance of the banks and the excesses of the very few, is only going to store up trouble for later years.  I'm not advocating a neutering process, or even a massive degree of regulation, but a simple increase in tax levels for the super-wealthy.

Anyone object to a 90% tax on incomes over £5m pa?  Of course, many of those who earn these obscene sums, would convert their income into long-term equity growth which would attract lower tax rates.  Which is exactly the point, by binding the speculators' wealth to long term economic growth, it might just focus their minds when they are betting with their future wealth.