A project of the Labor Institute to reverse runaway income and wealth inequality.
As nuclear, oil, and chemical plants in the Great Lakes region were closing, plans were needed for a just transition for 100,000 workers. Les Leopold talked about the workers, what they were losing, and how important it was for all parties to support a just transition to a new way of life. You can read the speech by clicking here.
By Les Leopold Stanley Aronowitz, my ex-brother-in-law, came crashing into my life in my early teens. The combination of Stanley and my sister Evelyn totally scrambled my entire vision of the world and of myself. I went from a lower-middle class suburbanite to a working class radical with many difficult stops along the way. Stanley never tired of sharing books, discussing politics and asking probing questions. He was enormously kind and gracious in his support of me and my work. We stayed friends for the rest of his life. Through Stanley and Evelyn I met the late Tony Mazzocchi, with whom …
View this post on Instagram In 1945, the first transfer of the Bank’s profits to the general fund was made—$1,725! The next time this occurred was in 1949 and 1951, a veterans’ fund received $1.5 million. Learn more in The Bank of North Dakota, From Surviving to Thriving – The First 100 Years hardcover book. Now available at bnd.nd.gov/store and Amazon.com. #BankND #TheBNDStory #100Years #OldTownRoad A post shared by Bank of North Dakota (@bankofnd) on May 24, 2019 at 8:45am PDT North Dakota’s bank is 100 years old, and this Vox story tells its story and how that is influencing …
Read moreAs California Considers a Public Bank, The Story of North Dakota’s
Lordstown is the poster child for modern financialized capitalism and runaway inequality By Les Leopold The vacant Lordstown General Motors facility is a frightening sight—6.2 million square feet of modern industrial might spread over 900 acres doing absolutely nothing except depressing the regional economy and the spirits of northeast Ohio. Just a few months ago it produced the Chevy Cruze and provided thousands of good paying industrial jobs with excellent benefits. Now it’s gone, and unless the Democrats have something meaningful to say about it, they too may be gone. Lordstown is the poster child for modern financialized capitalism and …
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] After two printings and more than 50,000 copies sold, Runaway Inequality will get a new introduction and a new printing early in 2018. While we discussed a new title for the book, Runaway Inequality in the Age of Trump, we decided to not change the name, but the draft of the new introduction, which follows, discusses what we’ve been doing to reverse runaway inequality, and the changes our new president has brought to the nation. Since you’re likely already familiar with the book and our education program, we’re interested in hearing your …
Read moreWhat Do You Think? A New Introduction to the Third Printing of Runaway Inequality.
(This article was sent to subscribers to RunawayInequality.org. If you would like to receive more content via email about inequality and how to reverse it, sign up here.) How does Wall Street financially strip-mine a country, territory or state? It loans governments more and more money knowing that, no matter what, they have to pay it back — even if it means closing schools, cutting thousands of jobs and turning day-to-day life into misery for working people and the poor. The US territory of Puerto Rico has run up massive debts (approximately $123 billion) in the last 15 years. Programs …
And some history.
From the Austin DSA Newsletter, July 2017 Austin DSA Members Participate in CWA “Reversing Runaway Inequality” Workshop Reported by David Pinkham On Saturday, July 8th at the bright and early hour of 8 A.M., Colin Gray and I, cramming our faces with cold coffee and Clif bars, carpooled down to Southwest Austin and managed to arrive about eight minutes late to the regional Communication Workers of America office where Kris Raab would be leading us on a journey through the past in order for us to understand how we reached the economic present. She began the class by dredging our collective …
Read moreAbout the Recent Austin Reversing Runaway Inequality Training
The NY Times’s David Leonhardt borrows a chart from Thomas Piketty and his crew that shows how income gains have been distributed since World War II. Read his story at the New York Times.
This is from the email Les started sending people who signed up for more information about becoming a trainer or joining the campaign. We’ve moved it here so anyone who is interested might find it. “As an economics educator, I was asked by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in the Spring of 2015 to conduct five half-day sessions for Verizon workers on the need for movement building. None of us were sure what that actually meant but I said I’d give it a go. At the time, I had a rough draft of the book, the chapters of which …
Read moreHow the Runaway Inequality Educational Project Got Started