Jul 28 Why capitalism has nothing to do with supply and demand By Nick Hanauer Billionaire venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, whose family owns a pillow company, says there's a limit to how much his wealth can buy. "I may earn a thousand times the median wage, but I don’t sleep on a thousand pillows," he… Continue reading
Jul 17 Real inequality: why things are better than they seem and will almost surely get worse By John Nye Welfare inequality, John Nye argues, is much less severe than it used to be, and trying to tax away or regulate income inequality will only make more intractable forms of inequality more pernicious. Continue reading
Jul 16 The cruel key to individual prosperity: choosing the right ancestors By Gregory Clark In a column adapted from one of the most provocative economics books of the year, "The Son Also Rises," economic historian Gregory Clark argues that social status is inherited from your parents just as strongly as height. Continue reading
Jun 19 Watch To tackle racial disparity in Wisconsin’s capital, community leaders start with the very young By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jun 13 Why not all American youth should go to college By Robert Lerman Traveling to BMW's only American plant, where they've imported the German tradition of apprenticeships, Paul Solman speaks with long-time apprenticeship advocate and American University economist Bob Lerman about how pushing everyone onto the same path of a four-year college degree… Continue reading
May 23 Watch Memphis churches rally to close disparity in breast cancer survival rates By PBS News Hour The rate of breast cancer deaths for African American women nationally is 40 percent greater than that of white women, according to a study published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology. In Memphis, the city with the widest disparity, a… Continue watching
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 14 Watch Bill Clinton reflects on fixing the wealth gap, embracing the Affordable Care Act and Hillary’s health By PBS News Hour Continue watching
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 14 Full interview: Bill Clinton on economy, inequality, politics and Hillary By News Desk Former President Bill Clinton discussed debt, deficit, economic growth and inequality Wednesday with Gwen Ifill as part of the 2014 Fiscal Summit sponsored by the Peterson Foundation in Washington, D.C. Mr. Clinton also answered questions on other topics like immigration,… Continue reading