U.S. Stock Ownership: Who Owns? Who Benefits?
The U.S. economy is still underperforming, but stock markets, fueled by the U.S. Fed, keep rising — to record highs. While the U.S. job market is still far from a full recovery, at least stock prices...
View ArticleThe House of Unrepresentatives: 20 Facts About Congress In a Shutdown
The U.S. Congress was unable to pass a budget — one of its primary Constitutional obligations — to keep the federal government open past September 30, the end of the 2013 fiscal year. But while nearly...
View ArticleInequality: Obama Era’s Defining Feature?
1. U.S. median household income in February 2013 was $51,404. 2. This means U.S. median household income was 5.6% below where it was in June 2009, when the recovery from the financial crisis began...
View ArticleAs US Poverty Rises, So Does Number of Rich Households
1. While many Americans still struggle to make ends meet in these difficult economic times, some individuals continue to generate wealth as income inequality keeps growing. 2. The number of U.S....
View ArticleBrazil: An Object of History — or a Subject?
With good reason, Brazilians are incensed about the vast overreach of U.S. power as witnessed during the current NSA scandal. To rein in seemingly endless U.S. espionage practices, Germany’s Chancellor...
View ArticleThe Problem With Billionaires
In the 1980s, the supply-siders became ascendant in Washington D.C., preaching voodoo economics as “the way, the truth and the life.” Their central claim was that rich people create jobs, while high...
View ArticleJust the Facts: CEOs and the Rest of Us
On November 24, 2013, voters in Switzerland – usually a bastion of big business and capitalism – will vote on an initiative designed to cap the salaries of CEOs of Swiss companies to 12 times what...
View ArticleCEO Pay: A Swiss Rebellion
Switzerland is an unlikely place to start a global revolution. And it is even unlikelier that such a Swiss-made revolution would seek to attack one of the citadels of Western-style late 20th century...
View ArticleA Modest Proposal to Save Detroit
If a Martian tried to read some of American news headlines in recent years, he might be forgiven for being a little confused. On the one hand, he saw that “Detroit” was saved from bankruptcy by a...
View ArticleQatar: A Close-up
1. Qatar is an absolute monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Geographically, it is about the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut. 2. About 1.2 million foreign workers – mostly poor Asians from India,...
View ArticleHow to Rebuild U.S. Incomes
President Obama deserves at least two cheers for his recent economic address. In an unusually clear-eyed assessment of how the economy has shaped our current politics and national mood, he traced most...
View ArticleSocial Mobility: Why Grandparents Matter So Much
1. On balance, education, hard work and getting a good job are less important than having had the right ancestors. 2. While one doesn’t get to choose one’s grandparents, few if any factors are more...
View ArticlePope Francis on Income Inequality
1. “Young friends, you have a particular sensitivity towards injustice, but you are often disappointed by facts that speak of corruption on the part of people who put their own interests before the...
View ArticleA Tale of Three Americas
Julius Caesar’s treatise on the war that the Roman Empire fought against the Gauls famously starts with the words: “All Gaul is divided into three parts.” The same is true for the United States of...
View ArticleU.S.: Rich Get Richer, Everyone Else Pays Taxes
1. The 400 people with the highest adjusted gross incomes In the United States made, on average, $202 million each in 2009, according to IRS data. 2. The top 400 paid an average U.S. federal tax rate...
View ArticleNew Approaches to Inequality
A set of recent studies reveals the shocking increase in inequality globally, both between and within countries. Anti-poverty economic policies since World War II have done little to counter this...
View ArticleThe Low-wage, Low-education U.S. Future?
1. The bottom 20% of U.S. workers by income – 28 million workers – earn less than $9.89/hour. 2. $9.89/hour translates to $20,570 a year for a full-time employee. 3. The median U.S. worker’s income...
View ArticleGermany: What Makes A Nation Rich or Poor?
1. While Germany has held its own in the midst of the European crisis, Germans are less wealthy on average than those in many of the nations they are bailing out. 2. With average household assets of...
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Guide to 2014: Global Issues
1. Religion Living Where You Don’t Make the Rules Faith and cultural change in the age of globalization. By Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool 2. Terrorism How U.S. Drones Miss Their Target Does the United...
View ArticleTen Facts: The U.S. Households Left Behind
1. Among the 25 million U.S. households in the bottom fifth on the income ladder, average income is just $18,000 a year. 2. Each year, about one in seven U.S. households suffers a drop in annual income...
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