The state and federal governments are largely responsible for the widening gap between the rich and poor in the United States and should institute policy changes - including reforms to the tax code and more investment in education - to help reverse this 30-year trend, economists and researchers told state lawmakers Wednesday.

Is there a widening gap between rich and poor? In the nation, and particularly in California, the answer is yes. The most durable message from the Occupy Wall Street encampments across the nation is also the simplest: "We are the 99%." But are the implications of that message fair? Is there a widening gap between rich and poor? Are those doing well just a fraction of the populace?

United Kingdom--It's not just the scale of the strike, though, but its breadth, from headteachers to school cleaners in every part of the country, that has set it apart. Most of those taking action were women, and the majority had never been on strike before. This has been the "big society" in action, but not as Cameron meant it.

“There’s the idea of taxing financial transactions, which have exploded in recent decades. The economic value of all this trading is dubious at best. In fact, there’s considerable evidence suggesting that too much trading is going on.”

Trade unions and the government have traded blows over the impact of the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest in three decades, as up to 2 million public sector workers went on strike, forcing the closure of 62% of state schools in England and the cancellation of 6,000 hospital operations.

The day of action is a rebuke to an elite that gives money to banks at the expense of the poor. Wednesday's public sector pensions strike is more than industrial action; it is a national day of rebuke. The dispute represents many things beyond its central purpose of making ministers think again about trying to make public servants pay more, work longer, and receive less. It represents a rebuke to an elite, represented by the Conservative-dominated coalition, which has treated the banks and hedge funds in precisely the opposite way, giving them more to deliver less in lending and investment.