Inequality and the Common Good

Three decades ago, conservative ideologues at The Heritage Foundation produced a primer on the Reagan Revolution entitled Mandate for Leadership, which offered an overarching philosophy against the role of government and in favor of markets.

Today, IPS has taken on the same task for the  Obama administration. Mandate for Change is aimed at strengthening the new administration at a time when the need for progressive policies — and appointing progressive people to lead such efforts—is most urgent.

The “Economic Meltdown Funnies” are a co-production of Jobs with Justice and the Institute for Policy Studies' Program on Inequality and the Common Good. Authors Chuck Collins and Nick Thorkelson provide a humorous, easy-to-follow guide to the many factors that led to the current financial crisis. You can download a free copy of the comic book here.

“By the end of this book you may not be able to explain how the Federal Reserve Bank works, but you will be very clear about the moral values that measure economic health.”

It is twenty years since the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter on the U.S. economy. Since then striking changes have occurred as the U.S. has become dramatically more unequal in terms of wealth, income, and opportunity. The signs are everywhere, from the fantastic salaries of corporate CEOs, the skyrocketing rates of personal and public debt, tax cuts for the wealthiest, increased job insecurity, and shrinking public services. Catholic social teaching supplies a set of criteria for evaluating the moral health of an economic system, though for most people these principles are a well-kept secret. In this clear and penetrating book, Chuck Collins and Mary Wright draw on these principles to evaluate our economy and lay out practical steps toward establishing an economy “as if people mattered.”