Economy
We're NOT Number 1: Which Country Now Has a More Affluent Middle Class?
Fancy living up in Canada? Granted, it’s a bit chilly. But the middle class up there has just blown by the U.S. as the world’s most affluent. After taxes, the Canadian middle class now has a higher income than its American counterpart.
Government = Protection Racket for the 1 Percent
Sad, that it’s come to this. The drift toward oligarchy that Thomas Piketty describes in his formidable new book on capital has become a mad dash. It will overrun us, unless we stop it.
Piketty's "Capital" Is A Hit. So What Comes Next?
In "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," Thomas Piketty has brilliantly and eloquently analyzed the crisis of inequality that threatens the global economy. The question now is, what do we do about it?
Welcome To Plutocrat-Geddon! Hail Our New Billionaire Overlords!
With the children of today’s baby boomers scheduled to inherit $30 trillion in the next several decades, politicians and the press are hard at work flattering plutocrats of all ages by portraying them as paragons of wisdom.
5 Ways American Policies Make Us Lonely, Anxious, and Antisocial
Our society is designed by politicians indebted to the 1 percent for the purpose of enhancing and maintaining their power. The rest of us lead rocky, competitive lives that leave us isolated and exhausted. Inequality is stunting our growth.
The Middle Class is not “Normal”
There’s nothing “normal” about having a middle class. Having a middle class is a choice that a society has to make, and it’s a choice we need to make again in this generation.
Living in the Short Run: Comment on 'Capital In the 21st Century'
Thomas Piketty's method for preventing an ever greater concentration of wealth and income is to impose sharply progressive income taxes and stiff inheritance taxes. We actually have a much larger menu of options.
Thomas Piketty: Wealth Inequality Corrupts Our Politics
The author of "Capital in the 21st Century" says the capturing of our political institutions by the ultra-wealthy is the single most serious concern stemming from today's worsening wealth inequality.
Measuring What Matters
We measure a lot of stuff in our society. But it’s rare that we try to measure our progress in achieving the American ideal of opportunity, especially when it comes to our nation’s young people.
Let's Repudiate Reaganomics
How did we get to a point in our history where our nation has record levels of wealth, but millions of people are still struggling with hunger, poverty and homelessness? It’s all thanks to Reaganomics.
