We may be on the way to the triumph of money, power and fundamentalism -- a development that should seem shocking, yet instead has become the new normal. We have outrage fatigue. Fury has slid into a persistent low-grade fever, a "what fresh hell is this?" jadedness.
Dave Pederson | Posted 05.04.2012
Two news items popped this week that highlight the ever-growing Neo-Feudalism that has become our new economy. First, Occupy Wall Street (OWS) filed ...
Reuters | Posted 05.01.2012
* SWAT team fired beanbag round at ex Marine - report * Outside monitor of OPD "dismayed" by police actions * Sees "mili...
American Anthropological Association | Posted 04.30.2012
What will likely be absent in the inevitable debt debate before the election is any consideration of the relationship of debt to the requirement for perpetual economic growth and its role in the dramatic increase in economic inequality.
DeAngelo Bester | Posted 05.16.2012
Making sure everyone pays their fair share is extremely important, but we need to make sure that the money generated is used for programs and services that invest in human needs, redress inequalities and expand opportunities for everyone.
Emma Goss | Posted 04.18.2012
On Equal Pay Day on April 17, we are reminded that discrimination and inequality still pervade our society.
Bruce Judson | Posted 04.13.2012
A corporation that knowingly breaks the law will find ways to profit through illegal means that are not available to competitors. As a consequence, the competitive playing field is biased toward the company that does not need to follow the rules.
Jared Bernstein | Posted 04.13.2012
Had a rousing debate on inequality last night with Scott Winship from Brookings, moderated by Reihan Salam, both of whom lean conservative, and both of whom brought generally interesting and provocative views to the discussion.
Robert Creamer | Posted 04.10.2012
We must mobilize Americans to reject economic inequality -- to vote for a society where we all stand together, where we have each other's backs -- and where we return the goal of reducing inequality to center stage where it belongs.
Dave Astor | Posted 05.28.2012
Of course, not reading more of an author is a no-brainer when you thoroughly dislike the first novel you try by him or her. But things get trickier when you have some positive feelings about a book, as I did with The Magnificent Ambersons.
Robert Reich | Posted 05.13.2012
Let Santorum and Romney duke it out for who will cut taxes on the wealthy the most and shred the public services everyone else depends on. The rest of us ought to be having a serious discussion about a wealth tax.
Daron Acemoglu | Posted 05.11.2012
Economic inequality will lead to greater political inequality, and those who are further empowered politically will use this to gain a greater economic advantage by stacking the cards in their favor -- a quintessential vicious circle.
Jared Bernstein | Posted 05.04.2012
From 1947-79, when inequality was relatively unchanged, incomes just about doubled for low, medium and high earners. But between 1979 and 2010, income growth at the middle and bottom was pretty much flat. There is of course a lot more than unequal growth delineating the two periods, but there's no question that inequality was a major factor in play. Another big distinction between these two roughly 30 year periods was the tightness of the labor market. And there's an important, substantive linkage between growth and inequality: at full employment, middle and low-income workers have much more of the bargaining power they require to claim their fair share of the growth they're helping to generate.
Mark Shriver | Posted 04.30.2012
While much of official Washington says the Obama budget has little chance of passage, it does send an important message about the priority we must place on early childhood education.
Bruce Judson | Posted 04.21.2012
Obama has declared income inequality to be "the defining issue of our time." I agree, but I am terrified that the most recent news related to the housing settlement is not the definition the president intends.
Jess Coleman | Posted 04.02.2012
Mr. Dimon, you seem to think it's an attack to ask you to pay more taxes. But shouldn't you be required to pay more into a system that arbitrarily benefitted you more than others? Seems fair to me.
Bill Quigley | Posted 04.01.2012
Question One. The combined pay of the 299 highest paid CEOs in the U.S. is enough to support how many median salary jobs?
Jared Bernstein | Posted 04.01.2012
The trickle-down, deregulatory agenda presumes that the economic growth chain starts at the top of the wealth scale and "trickles down" to those at the middle and the bottom of that scale. Problem is, that hasn't worked. As more income, wealth, and power is concentrated at the top of the income scale, narrow coalitions form to influence policy decisions in ways less likely to promote overall, or middle-class, well-being, and more likely to favor those with disproportionate power and resources. In the current economics debate, we clearly see these dynamics playing out again and again. It's now time to start thinking about new economic models to replace the old, worn out ones.
Mark Rosenman | Posted 03.31.2012
More Americans are joining with President Obama and the few other elected leaders who have begun to talk about the nation's profound economic inequality. But the topic isn't getting very much attention from charities.
Jared Bernstein | Posted 03.21.2012
I fear that until we deal with the underlying structural factors driving inequality, we're going to see it go ever higher.
www.salon.com | Posted 01.18.2012
If you're part of the one percent, even getting fired comes with a cushion made of eiderdown. GMI, a research company that gets paid to keep an eye on...
AP | MEGHAN BARR | Posted 03.13.2012
NEW YORK — It was only a few nights after the Occupy protesters began sleeping in his church sanctuary when the Rev. Bob Brashear realized that ...
HuffingtonPost.com | Bonnie Kavoussi | Posted 01.11.2012
A major business membership group warns that increasing income inequality in the United States is stifling economic growth. Many multinational com...
Max Fraad Wolff | Posted 03.11.2012
The politics and political norms of the U.S. are shifting as the economy has already shifted. 2012 looks set to be the year when this dramatically emerges.
Marc J. Morgenstern | Posted 02.18.2012
While every economist and the occasional congressman struggle with how to support the working class while trimming the deficit during these Scrooge-like economic times, I have a modest proposal for this season of giving. In a word: tip.
Marty Kaplan | Posted 05.22.2012