Growing inequalities are leading to imbalances in the way people are able to live well and care for each other and the environment. I this issue we report on the impacts both the local and global market economies have on people in the Waikato as they rise and fall. We consider how people are struggling to make ends meet, housing, economic inequality, the impacts of poverty on children and young people. In a new section we consider the impacts of changing land ownership and use in the Waikato.