#Inequality

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News and Opinion Channel

Jay Murdock

May 22, 2019
31 min

Economic Dignity

We must not lose sight of what economic policy is all about: allowing people to lead dignified lives By Gene Sperling | Democracy Journal | Spring 2019 For all the things we find time for in the ongoing economic policy debates I have seen or been part of over the last 30 years, there seems to me too little reflection on the most basic economic question of all: What exactly is our ultimate economic goal in terms of increasing human happiness and well-being? Indeed, in the abse

How to Build Community in an Era of Division

Jay Murdock

Apr 3, 2019
9 min

How to Build Community in an Era of Division

These local groups support individuals and families who are economically vulnerable and socially isolated. By Ronald Brownstein | The Atlantic Magazine | April 3, 2019 For some of the immigrants who take classes in English and citizenship from Welcoming the Stranger, a nonprofit organization in the Philadelphia suburbs that has served new arrivals from more than 100 countries, the past few years have clouded the sense of welcome they felt when they first came to America. “A l

President Bannon Is Dead, Long Live President Cohn

Jay Murdock

Apr 18, 2017
6 min

President Bannon Is Dead, Long Live President Cohn

Donald Trump has finally pivoted — right into a full embrace of Goldman Sachs economics By DAVID DAYEN | APRIL 17, 2017 This post originally appeared at The Nation. For years now, pundits have been tantalized by the notion that Donald Trump would make an historic pivot, roll back his most chaotic ideas, and return to the comfortably narrow range of political debate. During the campaign, Trump always frustrated this triumph of hope over experience. But in the last several day

Inequality: Government Is a Perp, Not a Bystander

Jay Murdock

Dec 25, 2013
3 min

Inequality: Government Is a Perp, Not a Bystander

In his speech on inequality earlier this month, President Obama proclaimed that the government could not be a bystander in the effort to reduce inequality, which he described as the defining moral issue of our time. This left millions convinced that Obama would do nothing to lessen inequality. The problem is that President Obama wants the public to believe that inequality is something that just happened. It turns out that the forces of technology, globalization, and whatever

Reducing Income Inequality Is the Key to Economic Growth — Time to Pass the Buffett Rule

Jay Murdock

Apr 11, 2012
6 min

Reducing Income Inequality Is the Key to Economic Growth — Time to Pass the Buffett Rule

Robert Creamer – Political Organizer, Strategist, Author; Partner Democracy Partners Posted: 04/10/2012 10:04 am It’s not rocket science. The chief goal of our economic policy is to increase per capita economic output — measured by per capita Gross Domestic Product. That’s what allows people to live better next year than they did the year before. That’s what allows our children to live a better life than we do. That is the basis of the American Dream. Increased per capital

Derrick Bell: Changing the Odds for Others

Jay Murdock

Jan 20, 2012
3 min

Derrick Bell: Changing the Odds for Others

Marian Wright Edelman – President, Children’s Defense Fund Posted: 1/19/12 07:10 PM ET “In all my courses, I really have to teach the basic messages of my life… that the rewards, the satisfactions, are not in being partner or making a million dollars, but in recognizing evils, recognizing injustices, and standing up and speaking out about them even in absolutely losing situations where you know it’s not going to bring about any change—that there are intangible rewards to the

The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America

Jay Murdock

Oct 24, 2011
3 min

The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America

By Robert Reich / Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley / Sunday, October 16, 2011 A fundamental war has been waged in this nation since its founding, between progressive forces pushing us forward and regressive forces pulling us backward. We are going to battle once again. Progressives believe in openness, equal opportunity, and tolerance. Progressives assume we’re all in it together: We all benefit from public investments in sch

Jay Murdock

Sep 19, 2011
3 min

‘Job Creators’ or ‘Hostage Takers?’

Peter M. Shane – Author, ‘Madison’s Nightmare;’ law professor, E-democracy researcher Posted: 9/16/11 01:13 PM ET When I started blogging occasionally for Huffington Post, I resolved to confine my use of this platform to issues on which my professional background in constitutional and administrative law would give me (and any readers I might have) the advantage of some actual expertise. On this particular occasion, however, with our political system seemingly stuck at the de

Minority Children Four Times More Likely to Start Poor, Stay Poor

Jay Murdock

Apr 10, 2011
5 min

Minority Children Four Times More Likely to Start Poor, Stay Poor

Janell Ross – Janell.Ross@huffingtonpost.com Become a fan of this reporter Children of color are four times more likely than their white peers to be born into a poor family and suffer a lifetime of consequences, ranging from diminished academic standing to increased financial insecurity, a report released Thursday found. Beyond financial comfort, even practical dreams of education and savings remain an elusive idea for many nonwhite Americans. The nation’s racial wealth dis

Warning! Inequality May Be Hazardous to Your Growth

Jay Murdock

Apr 10, 2011
3 min

Warning! Inequality May Be Hazardous to Your Growth

Many of us have been struck by the huge increase in income inequality in the United States in the past thirty years. The rich have gotten much richer, while just about everyone else has had very modest income growth. Some dismiss inequality and focus instead on overall growth — arguing, in effect, that a rising tide lifts all boats. But assume we have a thousand boats representing all the households in the United States, with boat length proportional to family income. In the