The coming ‘tsunami of debt’ and financial crisis in America

The US Congressional Budget Office is projecting a continued economic recovery. So why look down the road – say, to 2017 – and worry? Here's why: because the debt held by American households is rising ominously. And unless our economic policies change, that debt balloon, powered by ... Read more

Income Inequity Is a Choice

As the U.S. celebrates its 238th anniversary this week, during a year in which income inequality reached heights not seen in almost a century, now is as good a time as any to ask whether American democracy and its winner-take-all capitalistic system are compatible or need to part ways. It’s particularly important ... Read more

Toward the Total Paralysis of an Unequal Society

The severing of our society into a plutocracy and a peasantry is so far along that statistics almost cease to have meaning. But the facts have to be told, to help explain the sickening sense that we're becoming a nation without a middle class, paralyzed by the inequality deniers and excuse ... Read more

Latest Jobs and Housing Reports Show Americans are Struggling More than Ever

The latest nationwide jobs and housing statistics released this week suggest that America is no longer a country where—for most people—the future is going to be better than the past. The percentage of people in most age and education levels in jobs compared to 2008 is ... Read more

Creditocracy or Democracy?

The formula used to trap personal debtors today is much the same as the International Monetary Fund’s formerly controversial lending arrangements to poor countries — loan installments are made so that borrowers can service existing debts, while the principal is rolled over. With average incomes stagnant or falling, ... Read more

FAST FOOD FAILURE: HOW CEO-TO-WORKER PAY DISPARITY UNDERMINES THE INDUSTRY AND THE OVERALL ECONOMY

The link between income inequality and economic instability has drawn renewed attention from economists, policy makers, global financial institutions, media, and investors. From Davos to Wall Street to Main Street, there is a growing consensus ... Read more

Self Help is no help for inequality

We’re a nation founded on the Protestant work ethic. Our forefathers came to America with the idea that diligent efforts and thrift demonstrated both godliness and virtue — and would result in worldly success. The self-help industry is the modern secular version of our grounding myth. It’s a $10 billion ... Read more

Government Is Now a Protection Racket for the 1%

A new report shows that top CEOs were paid 331 times more than the average US worker in 2013. At the same time, the poorest fifth of Americans paid an average tax rate of 11 percent while the richest one percent contributed half that rate at state and local levels. In this essay, Bill Moyers ... Read more

New study finds US to be ruled by oligarchic elite

The way we perceive business power and define the capitalist state will inevitably have serious implications for our political strategies. The danger with empirical studies that narrowly emphasize the role of elites at the expense of the deeper structural sources of capitalist power is that ... Read more

Contracting Out Public Services Worsens Inequality and Lowers Wage

Contracting out public services—which aims to help state and local governments save tax dollars—often has a harmful effect on the community, including worsening inequality and lowering wages. A recent study, “The Decision to Contract Out: Understanding the Full Economic and ... Read more