It is my duty to note, once again, that taxes on the rich are at a historically low level in the United States today pic.twitter.com/kSBsBiy4Wg
— Gabriel Zucman (@gabriel_zucman) April 23, 2021
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Covid 19 Death Data
On July 28, 2020, The American Prospect published Les Leopold’s analysis of Covid-19 deaths in New York City during the first month’s of the pandemic. You can read the story by clicking here. This page is the repository for data supporting Les’s research into Covid deaths. You may download the spreadsheet with the NYC Department of Health Covid-19 statistics and US Census information that Les used to do his analysis by clicking here. Here are the Technical Notes that go with the story. The New York City Department of Health tracks the number of deaths (and cases) by zip codes …
Readings in Inequality. September 2019 Links
Each Sunday Tony Wikrent posts a list of links at Real Economics and Ian Welsh. Some are political, many lead to news about runaway inequality. This post borrows a few that seem to fit together very well. The New York Times reported that inequality is getting worse, which for poor people means more sickness and an earlier death. Peter Turchin, at Evonomics, discusses what it is that sometimes (like in the post World War II era) decreases inequality. Namely policy changes when disenchantment with inequality reaches a boiling point. Bloomberg takes a look at the growing disenchantment with capitalism in the US and …
More Than a Trickle Up
The People’s Policy Project is a think tank run by Matt Breunig, who previously worked as a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board and as a policy analyst at the Demos Think Tank. The 3P, as they refer to themselves, took a look at the recent Federal Reserve report that tracks the distribution of wealth in the US. You can get to the original data here. By comparing the data from 1989, the first year they were collected, to 2018, the most recent set, and making adjustments for consumer durables (taking them out) and inflation (making all dollars equal …
The Nitty Gritty Had This to Say About Runaway Inequality
RUNAWAY INEQUALITY—This is the most pressing issue that affects all working people and the poor. After World War II the US emerged as a super power because its economy built up a strong middle class. The system at that time saw the height of union involvement so workers could negotiate with business for improved wages and benefits. Government regulated businesses, banks and Wall Street. Corporations and the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. Wages and productivity went up together, side by side. During those years, workers did a little better each year with raising wages and government programs began …
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Les Leopold on Advocating for Justice
You can listen to Les talk to Arthur Schwartz on this WBAI by clicking this link. The Leopold segment begins at about the 11 minute mark.
What Swings the Swing Voter?
Today, a similar common denominator unites every identity group with every economic populist: All have much to gain from policies that address rising inequality by Les Leopold According to conventional wisdom, the Democrats must appeal to middle-of-the-road swing voters in order to defeat Trump in 2020. Supposedly these voters want a moderate who “crosses the partisan divide,” “finds common ground with all classes and income groups,” “removes barriers to advancement,” “builds public/private partnerships,” “works for the common good against all special interests,” “avoids the extremes of the right and the left,” and “shuns costly pie-in-the-sky programs.” Wrong. Mounting evidence suggests …
Beware the Moderate Democrat
By Les Leopold He’s a “moderate.” Such a soothing political word. It conjures up a reasonable, considerate person who seeks the middle ground between ideological extremists: Works well with others, crosses the aisle to make good policy, knows how to win incremental change rather than issuing jarring proclamations that jump too far ahead of the electorate. A moderate is pragmatic, gets things done and doesn’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good. Oh, in these troubled times, aren’t such moderates desperately needed? Get ready to hear more and more of that from mainstream media pundits as the Democratic …
Tell Us About Your Runaway Inequality Events!
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.92″ background_layout=”light”] We’ve made a Google form so you can easily report to us about your upcoming or past Runaway Inequality event. We want to add these to our new Events calendar, to help people find out about talks and trainings that are coming up, and to learn about events that occurred in the past. (The calendar currently only has a fraction of the past events listed. We’re working to show all of them.) Click here to fill out the form. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
Reversing Inequality Workshop Set for September 8 in Wilmington NC
Its no secret that the rich are getting richer while the rest of us are finding it harder to make ends meet. Why do the top one percent get all the breaks while others struggle to find a good job, live in fear of a major health crisis, and get buried under growing debt? Many of our country’s problems are getting worse because of one major issue: inequality. Our economic and political systems currently serve the wealthy, but is this inevitable? We invite you to an interactive workshop in Wilmington, North Carolina, designed to help everyday people understand the rules …
Read moreReversing Inequality Workshop Set for September 8 in Wilmington NC