On a Rogue Billionaire, the Banging Begins
Investor Warren Buffett last week made an insightful case for higher taxes on America's rich. The reaction to that case, from our wealthy's most ardent defenders, offers insights, too —...
Articles
Holy Hieronymus Bosch: Art to the Barricades?
Soaring fortunes are distorting how the art world operates, says a new industry study, and undermining the professionalism of the men and women in it. Want to get some cold...
Look Out, Here Comes the ‘Feral Underclass’
What made last week's London rioting all the more 'achingly sad'? The rioters weren't challenging greed. They were celebrating it. Do we understand why? Oppressed people riot. Oppression and rioting...
Understanding Our National Empathy Deficit
The life experiences of the wealthy, new psychological research suggests, leaves the rich less compassionate and altruistic than people of more modest means. Patriotism, as Samuel Johnson suggested long ago,...
Endless Political Paralysis: The New Normal?
The American political system isn't working for average Americans anymore. Don't blame the Tea Party, new research suggests. Blame inequality. In a sensible republic, democratically elected leaders come together in...
The Unfair Distribution of Workplace Rewards
The private sector's declining union presence, two top sociologists contend, explains a major chunk of America's growing wage inequality. In the 1950s, Sears Roebuck, a nonunion employer, dominated the American...
Doing Debt Ceiling Battle the FDR Way
At times of fiscal crisis, President Franklin Roosevelt believed, you don't give the awesomely affluent a free pass. You pound them — and then you pound some more. Against a...
The Racial Wealth Gap’s Great Recession Surge
New Census survey stats show a substantial widening in the net worth gap between and within white, black, and Hispanic America. Has the Great Recession been an equal opportunity destroyer?...
America Doesn’t Need A Tax Dodging Industry
Like a pack of men in suits mud wrestling, Washington's budget battle would be entertaining to watch if we the people weren't about to get hurt. The zeal of Republican...
A Tip for Joe the Machinist: Better Watch Your Back
Corporate America, advises one of the nation's most prestigious management consulting companies, needs to wake up and stop rewarding employee loyalty and performance. With one exception. You work hard. You...
The ‘Optimal’ Tax Rate on Ultra-High Income?
Rich people-friendly lawmakers subscribe to a theory that considers any tax increase on the rich a reckless step down a slippery slope to economic disaster. Two top economists have just...
Here’s What Democracy, Economically, Looks Like
The global media spotlight may be gone, but Egypt's revolutionaries are still making history, with a spirited campaign for a 'maximum wage.' The global press corps is no longer hanging...