Inequality - InnerSelf.com

Social Consciousness

Why Economic Reform Keeps Failing

Robert Jennings

The Affordability Crisis Is a Human Cost

Robert Jennings, InnerSelf.com

: By Chad Williams, Brandeis University

Gold medal service for black Marines who were treated unfairly in segregated boot camps. US Marine Corps The recent shooting deaths of eight police officers in two separate incidents has shocked the nation and left us searching for answers.

: By Leslee Goodman, YES! Magazine

Why Unconditional Basic Income In Lieu Of Welfare Is A Good Idea Economist Guy Standing says the policy can reverse inequality. It also has an invigorating effect on volunteerism, home ownership, and community strength.

: By Dean Baker, CEPR

The Secret To The Incredible Wealth Of Bill Gates Sorry folks, this isn’t Trump University, I don’t have the plan for you to get rich quick. But it is important for everyone to understand exactly why Bill Gates is very rich. It’s called “copyright protection.”

: By InnerSelf Staff

pWhy We Must End Upward Pre-distributions To The Rich You often hear inequality has widened because globalization and technological change have made most people less competitive, while making the best educated more competitive. There’s some truth to this. The tasks most people used to do can now be done more cheaply by lower-paid workers abroad or by computer-driven machines.

: By Richard Eskow, OurFuture.org

What’s Killing the American Middle Class? A new study by the Pew Research Center spurred a rash of headlines last week about “the dying middle class.” But the word “dying” might be more appropriate if we were watching the regrettable but inevitable effects of natural forces at work.

: By Steve Viscelli, The Atlantic

truck stop 5 10

I met Claudio at a Midwestern truck stop just before the Great Recession. At the time, I was a sociology grad student trying to understand how long-haul trucking had gone from one of the best blue-collar jobs in the U.S.

: By Gerry Everding, Washington University in St. Louis

"Children do not kill careers, but the earlier children arrive the more their mother's income suffers. There is a clear incentive for delaying," says coauthor Raul Santaeulalia-Llopis.

: By Kate Stringer, YES! Magazine.

What Small Farms Need to Compete With Corporate Food Most small farms have to follow the same rules as big corporate ones. In Maine, flexible food ordinances have increased the number of small farmers.

: By Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law, University of Baltimore

How The Supreme Court Made Economic Inequality A Whole Lot Worse Economic inequality is now firmly on the public agenda as candidates and voters alike look for someone to blame for stagnant wages, entrenched poverty and a widening gap between rich and poor.

: By Ronen Palan, Professor of International Politics, City University London

Six Things A Tax Haven Expert Learned From The Panama Papers The Panama Papers is a treasure trove of information on the activities and clientele of a large, but not atypical law firm operating in an offshore financial centre. In this case, it is a firm called Mossack Fonseca, based in Panama. It follows a series of spectacular leaks by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, including the HSBC files

: By David S. Pedulla, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

When we think about disadvantages and challenges in the labor market, unemployment generally takes center stage, clearly exemplified by the monthly jobs report hype over one stat: the unemployment rate.

: By Tanya Monro, Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation, University of South Australia

Tanya Monro (left), Emma Johnston (centre) and Nalini Joshi (right) at the National Press Club. National Press Club of Australia On Wednesday May 30, Emma Johnston, Nalini Joshi and Tanya Monro spoke at the National Press Club for a special Women Of Science event. Here they outline their views on how to promote greater participation by women at the top levels of science.

: By Leslie Macmillan

U.S. Income Inequality Highest Since The Great Depression Income inequality in the United States has been a major flashpoint during the 2016 presidential election, with much debate focused on whether America is divided between “the 1 percent” who make up the wealthy elite and the lagging middle and working classes.

: By Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics, Boston University

Why We Have Been Measuring Inequality Wrong Despite appearances to the contrary, this year’s presidential follies have managed to feature at least a few policy discussions amid all the name-calling. Income inequality in particular has animated voters on both sides of the partisan divide, but the solutions advocated by candidates from each party are markedly different.

: By Robert Reich

Trump’s and Cruz’s Tax Plans Would Be the Largest Redistributions to the Rich in American History The tax cuts for the rich proposed by the two leading Republican candidates for the presidency – Donald Trump and Ted Cruz – are larger, as a proportion of the government budget and the total economy, than any tax cuts ever before proposed in history.

: By Jonathan Wai, Research Scientist, Duke University

The current process of selection could be leaving out some low-income and minority kids. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CC BY In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, which documented widespread academic underachievement at every level, concluding:

: By Melanie Davern, Senior Research Fellow, McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, and Director, Community Indicators Victoria, University of Melbourne

Mapping health outcomes and life expectancy against train stations reveals stark inequalities across cities. AAP/Tracey Nearmy The association between life expectancy and postcodes, neighbourhood locations or train stations has been demonstrated in many different locations around the world. These include London and Glasgow in the UK and across the US including California.

: By Marcus Harrison Green, YES! Magazine

The Program Helping Youth Unify the Most Segregated City in America

These south side Chicago “explorers” had never seen anything comparable to the legendary Union League Club. The esoteric artwork, luxurious decor, and dapper club members were a far cry from the neighborhood where the group of African American teenagers grew up. And there was no mistaking the reaction on members’ faces: There goes the neighborhood.

: By Alison Jones-Duke University

The economic downturn lasted for 18 months, from December 2007 through June 2009, but overall child well-being didn't begin to show improvement until 2013, six years after the recession started. (Credit: DVIDSHUB/Flickr) America’s children are starting to recover from the worst effects of the Great Recession, although some ill effects remain, a comprehensive study on child well-being reports.

: By Deborah Bach, University of Washington

Birth Weight Drops With Income In US Health disparities are common in developed countries, including the United States, but at what age those inequities take root and how they vary between countries is less clear.

: By Yessenia Funes, YES! Magazine

Even For The Rich Income Inequality Is a Health Hazard A public health researcher explains why life expectancy in the United States is falling, and it has to do with income inequality rising.

: By Patrick Ercolano, Johns Hopkins University

How No Strings Attached Money Changes Poor Teens

Increasing poor families’ income can significantly improve their children’s psychological well-being, according to new research.

: By Sarah Avery, Duke University

Women Cardiologists Earn About $100K Less Than Men Women cardiologists often earn less than men—even when taking into account the different types of work they do—a new study suggests. Further, the ranks of women cardiologists remain disproportionally small compared to those in medicine overall.