Goodbye, Columbus
Source: Mac McClelland, Mother Jones, Vol. 36 no. 6, November/December 2011 Public servants axed, jobless thirtysomethings living in abandoned homes, crime up, wages down, and tax breaks for the...
View ArticleThe Capitalist’s Case for a $15 Minimum Wage
Source: Nick Hanauer, Bloomberg, View, June 19, 2013 The fundamental law of capitalism is that if workers have no money, businesses have no customers. That’s why the extreme, and widening, wealth gap...
View ArticleBig Lie: America Doesn’t Have #1 Richest Middle-Class in the World…We’re...
Source: Les Leopold, AlterNet, Economy, June 18, 2013 America is the richest country on Earth. We have the most millionaires, the most billionaires—and a increasingly poor “middle class.” America is...
View ArticleMaking Jobs Good
Source: John Schmitt and Janelle Jones, Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs, Volume 56, Number 4, July-August 2013 (subscription required) From the abstract: Although economists typically look...
View ArticleWhat Families Need to Get By: The 2013 Update of EPI’s Family Budget Calculator
Source: Elise Gould, Hilary Wething, Natalie Sabadish, and Nicholas Finio, Economic Policy Institute, Issue Brief, #368, July 3, 2013 From the summary: The income level necessary for families to secure...
View ArticleIn Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters
Source: David Leonhardt, New York Times, July 22, 2013 A study finds the odds of rising to another income level are notably low in certain cities, like Atlanta and Charlotte, and much higher in New...
View ArticleA Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising...
Source: Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz, Briefing Paper #365, August 21, 2013 From the summary: …This paper’s key findings include: - According to every major data source, the vast majority of U.S....
View ArticleThe Agenda for Generational Equity: The Framework
Source: Bipartisan Policy Center, Common Sense Action, August 1, 2013 From the introduction: The Agenda for Generational Equity is a conversation starter. We cannot afford to have young...
View ArticleMiddle-Out Mobility – Regions with Larger Middle Classes Have More Economic...
Source: Ben Olinsky and Sasha Post, Center for American Progress, September 4, 2013 From the summary: …Last month, four economists from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley—Raj...
View ArticleSocial Mobility Memos
Source: Brookings Institution blogs, 2013 Brookings scholars and occasional guests post regular short pieces on the challenges of promoting greater social mobility and opportunity. Recent posts...
View ArticleExtended Measures of Well-Being: Living Conditions in the United States: 2011
Source: Julie Siebens, Household Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, P70-13, September 2013 Although money can provide access to a variety of goods and services common to modern life, financial...
View ArticleAdd It Up: The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big...
Source: Paul Buchheit, Common Dreams, September 23, 2013 $6,000. That’s over and above our payments to the big companies for energy and food and housing and health care and all our tech devices. It’s...
View ArticleMiddle Classes Are Stronger in States with Greater Union Membership
Source: David Madland and Keith Miller, Center for American Progress, September 20, 2013 Data on state household incomes released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau illustrate once again just how...
View Article3 Charts Showing How Middle-Class Incomes Continue to Stagnate While Overall...
Source: David Madland and Keith Miller, Center for American Progress, September 17, 2013 New Census Bureau data released today further highlight the economic challenges faced by today’s middle class....
View ArticleMiddle-Wage Jobs That Have Survived, and the States That Are Fostering Them
Source: Joshua Wright, EMSI, October 3, 2013 …New research from the Federal Reserve indicates the share of middle-skill jobs in the workforce has dropped from 25% in 1985 to just above 15% today, part...
View ArticleThe Grim Math of the Working-Class Housing Crisis
Source: Sarah Goodyear, Atlantic Cities, October 22, 2013 …The deeper and more systematic erosion of urban life is happening among a less glamorous set of people – the ones who fill the tens of...
View ArticleRunning in Place: Where The Middle Class and The Poor Meet
Source: Miles Rapoport, Jennifer Wheary, Dēmos, October 2013 From the summary: …Today it is not only poor families but many middle class families who are furiously running in place. Millions are...
View ArticleThe Economic and Financial Status of Older Americans: Trends and Prospects
Source: William R. Emmons and Bryan J. Noeth, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Center for Household Financial Stability, Working Paper, September 4, 2013 The global financial crisis and ensuing Great...
View Article2013 Wells Fargo Middle Class Retirement Survey
Source: Wells Fargo, October 2013 From the press release: As U.S. lawmakers engage in an ongoing fight over how and when to pay the country’s debts, more than half the middle class (59%) are very clear...
View ArticleThe 40-Year Slump
Source: Harold Meyerson, American Prospect, Vol. 24 no. 5, September/October 2013 From 1954 thought 1974, American workers brought home most of the wealth that they produced. Since 1974, they’ve...
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