“Many Areas of Appalachia and Mississippi Delta Have Lower Life Expectancy Than Bangladesh”
Four Nobel Prize winners agree that rent-seeking is the biggest driver of rising inequality.
Read more...Category Archives: Income disparity
Lessons From the Demise of the TPP
Yves here. This post makes a point at the end in passing about the value of multilateralism, even though the TPP was otherwise a very bad scheme on multiple levels. This serves as a reminder to mention something I’ve neglected to say. Trump’s plan to enter into bi-lateral trade deals (after supposedly tearing up extant […]
Read more...Yet Another Glaring Flaw With Trump Infrastructure Plan: Dependence on Vagaries of Tiny, Slow-Moving Tax Equity Market
The oh-so-clever Trump plan to use tax credits to fund infrastructure spending means it will be too small and slow to provide any real boost.
Read more...One of the Reasons Republicans Hate Food Stamps? It Helps Democrats Win Elections
Many people think food stamp advocacy is politically dangerous for Democrats, but a new paper suggests otherwise.
Read more...Trump’s Win: America’s Failures of Representation and Prospects for Democracy
Looking at why Trump won and the implications for his presidency.
Read more...Robots, Universal Basic Income, and the Welfare State
“Robots are coming for your job” may be more scare talk than reality, but instilling that belief helps weaken labor bargaining power.
Read more...How Do Americans Get Rich? (And Stay Rich?)
A deep dive into the sources of rich Americans’ wealth.
Read more...F@ck Work?
Why arguments against work are another manifestation of neoliberalism.
Read more...Sexual Orientation and Earnings: How Being in a Partnership Matters
Sexual orientation does affect earnings, but not necessarily in the way you might have assumed.
Read more...The Invention of the White Working Class
“White working class” is a dog whistle, not a demographic.
Read more...A Tale of Two Retirements: The Great Divide Between CEOs and Everyone Else
Pension, compensation, and tax rules exacerbate inequality, fueling a huge gap between retirement benefits for CEOS and ordinary workers.
Read more...Tom Engelhardt: The Future According to Trump
Gaming out some likely Trump scenarios.
Read more...Is Technological Progress Behind Growing Income Inequality?
Do elite-serving claims that technological change is a big driver of the rise in inequality hold up to scrutiny?
Read more...CNN Host’s Attempt to Explain the U.S. Economy Was So Bad I Started Yelling at the TV
Offshoring is about the rush to cheap labor, not about automation and new technology.
Read more...Uber, Gig Economy: “The Brutality of the System Is Being Lost on Those Who Actually Use These Apps”
The Financial Times’ Izabella Kaminska argues that the gig economy is a new form of feudalism.
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