(Thomas Piketty) America’s ongoing debate over economic inequality may be turning a new page. Starting in the 1980s, during the debate’s first chapter, pundits and policymakers battled over whether the United States was in fact becoming more unequal. This initial debate is over now. No serious analyst argues any longer that the gulf between America’s […]

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According to New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, “If we’re subsidizing companies, we have every right to demand a living wage for the people they pay.” He’s referring to conventional Democratic Party wisdom that taxpayers subsidize Walmart and other large low-wage employers by providing employees with food stamps, health care, and other public assistance. For […]

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(Source: Mother Jones) How can the world attain a decent, sustainable lifestyle, one that doesn’t wreck our land, water, and air? In fact, we already have the necessary technology, technology that can create more and better jobs. Here are examples from farms, cities, and businesses. Back in 1985, economists Yujiro Hayami and Vernon Ruttan estimated […]

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Last year, legislators in Illinois passed a law that decreases pension benefits for public employees, and in Detroit a bankruptcy judge required municipal employees to get in line with other creditors owed money by the bankrupt city. The focus on these trouble spots feeds a misperception that public pensions, generally, are in crisis. In reality, […]

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  Detroit Exactly one week before Christmas, 18 lawyers huddled in front of a bankruptcy judge in a federal courtroom in downtown Detroit. All were white, one was a woman, most were from the Jones Day law firm. There was one African-American attorney sitting on the side of the bar reserved for counsel, principals, and […]

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