May 22 Why your baggage handler may be on food stamps By Simone Pathe Although Alaska Airlines has challenged in court the $15 an hour minimum wage at Seattle-Tacoma airport, they recently raised the starting wages for some of their contractors to $12 an hour. But not all airport contractors have received a raise,… Continue reading
May 22 The surprising bull: Thomas Piketty on Wall Street By Paul Solman You've heard French economist Thomas Piketty talk about inequality and a global wealth tax to tap into the high rate of return on capital. The stock market is the source of much of that high-end wealth, and Piketty doesn't see… Continue reading
May 21 Why one economist isn’t running with the bulls: Dow 5,000 remains closer than you think By Terry Burnham The impending end of the government's unprecedented monetary and fiscal policies will be a revelatory moment for the U.S. economy. Will the market continue booming without those interventions? Terry Burnham isn't buying that it will. Continue reading
May 16 Will the rich always get richer? By Laurence Kotlikoff Our regular Social Security columnist takes issue with French economist Thomas Piketty's inequality theory. Income inequality is real, he thinks, but it doesn't stem from the rich accumulating and hoarding ever more private wealth. Continue reading
May 15 The fast food strike: the hard facts behind the Big Mac attack By Simone Pathe Fast food workers in dozens of American cities and across the world walked off the job Thursday to demonstrate for a $15 an hour minimum wage. Talking to a McDonald's worker trying to make ends meet on $9.85 an hour,… Continue reading
May 15 Student debt hurts household wealth for decades By Simone Pathe Nearly 40 percent of households headed by young, college-educated Americans are burdened with student debt, and that debt is likely to depress net worth for years to come, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. Continue reading
May 14 Piketty on the U.S.: The birthplace of freedom and progressive taxation By Thomas Piketty French economist Thomas Piketty acknowledges that every society needs some degree of inequality. But when the bottom 50 percent of America owns only 2 percent of the wealth, we've strayed too far from America's legacy of progressive taxation and are… Continue reading
May 13 How Piketty’s inequality theory explains Mr. Darcy’s wealth By Thomas Piketty French economist Thomas Piketty has made a splash with his prediction that inequality will grow in America. But the economic relationship that explains that inequality is hardly new; it's the same phenomenon that allowed Pemberley Mansion to enrich Mr. Darcy… Continue reading
May 12 Watch 8:54 Why do the rich get richer? French economist Piketty takes on inequality in ‘Capital’ By PBS News Hour On a recent U.S. press tour for his bestselling book "Capital," French economist Thomas Piketty spoke to standing-room-only crowds about his examination of growing, global economic inequality. Economics correspondent Paul Solman interviews Piketty for his take on why inequality of… Continue watching