Amy Dean writes for Al Jazeera America about the impact of increasing the minimum wage in San Jose, Calif.: From 1994 to 2003, I was the president of the South Bay Labor Council, the federation of labor unions in Silicon Valley. In 1998 we led a push for the San Jose City Council to pass a measure to establish for projects…
Articles
“It’s total moral surrender”: Matt Taibbi | Salon.com
From Salon.com: His relentless coverage of Wall Street malfeasance turned him into one of the most influential journalists of his generation, but in his new book, “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap,” Matt Taibbi takes a close and dispiriting look at how inequality and government dysfunction have created a two-tiered justice system in which most…
Shareholder capitalism vs. stakeholder capitalism | The Washington Post
Harold Meyerson writes in this Washington Post op-ed: Shareholder capitalism in the United States has reached the point of absurdity. More than three decades ago, economist Milton Friedman argued that a company’s sole obligation should be to its shareholders. But even Friedman didn’t argue that companies should cut back on everything else or plunge themselves deep into debt just to…
Immanuel Ness: Advocating for Worker Cooperatives | GritTV
From GritTV: Immanuel Ness, a Brooklyn college professor and co-author of Ours to Master, And to Own: Workers’ Control from the Commune to the Present, joins us to discuss Tony Benn’s legacy in promoting worker occupations and worker cooperatives, and how these ideas are manifesting themselves today. “This is revolutionary if people can conceive the fact that these coops can…
When Shareholder Capitalism Came to Town | The American Prospect
Steven Pearlstein writes: “The rise in inequality can be blamed on the shift from managerial to shareholder capitalism.” It was only 20 years ago that the world was in the thrall of American-style capitalism. Not only had it vanquished communism, but it was widening its lead over Japan Inc. and European-style socialism. America’s companies were widely viewed as the most…
Cities Advance Their Fight Against Rising Inequality | The New York Times
Annie Lowrey writes about efforts in Seattle, New York City, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles to tackle inequality. “The accumulation of 30 years of rising income inequality is finally having its impact,” said Mayor Ed Murray, sitting in his glass-walled office overlooking Puget Sound. “People can’t afford to live a decent life.” Read the article in The New…
10 numbers that explain why income inequality is a hot topic | Washington Post
Jaime Fuller posts 10 facts that help explain the increased focus on income inequality and economic opportunity among policymakers. Read about each on The Washington Post.
Democrats are making income inequality worse | Washington Post
George Will argues in The Washington Post: In this sixth year of near-zero interest rates, the government’s monetary policy breeds inequality. Low rates are intended to drive liquidity into the stock market in search of higher yields. The resulting boom in equity markets — up 30 percent last year alone — has primarily benefited the 10 percent who own 80 percent…
We Can’t Grow the Gap Away | New York Times
From Charles Blow writing in the New York Times: There are some who suggest that the solution to this inequality problem — if indeed they concede that it is a problem — is simply to grow the economy. A February I.M.F. paper pointed out the folly of such a tactic: “It would still be a mistake to focus on growth…
GRITtv Coverage of NYC Council Meeting on Co-ops
GRITtv with Laura Flanders ran exclusive interviews with Councilmember Maria Arroyo, Chris Michael of the NYC Network of Worker Co-ops and Miquela Craytor of the NYCEDC following the New York City Council meeting on cooperative businesses. Watch all three: Maria del Carmen Arroyo – “Worker Co-ops to Combat Poverty” Chris Michael – “Building Democracy in the Workplace” Miquela Craytor – “Economic…
