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. … Read more

About the Business Roundtable’s Mission Change

The Business Roundtable was formed in 1972 with the goal of undermining New Deal-forged worker rights and corporate regulation by the federal government. The Roundtable worked to weaken antitrust regulations, undermine labor protections and stopped Ralph Nader’s attempt to create a consumer protection agency in 1977. This was a group of hundreds of the country’s … Read more

The High Price of Child Care

Child care is expensive because good child care employs a high ratio of caregivers to children. That’s good for children but a problem for working people earning on the low end (and even the middle) of the wage scale. The Economic Policy Institute took a look at child care costs and found that infant care … Read more

CEOs Make How Much More Than Their Workers?

The AFL-CIO Paywatch program keeps an eye on the executive compensation figures public corporations are required to report thanks to the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. That’s information companies didn’t want to report, and a closer look shows why. Read it here. A few takeaways: In the past 10 … Read more

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 … Read more

Will the Democrats Abandon Lordstown to Trump?

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 … Read more