Inequality and the Common Good

The Program on Inequality and the Common Good focuses on the dangers that growing inequality pose for U.S. democracy, economic health and civic life.

The program runs the following projects: Inequality.org, Too Much, Resilience Circles, Class Action, The Other98%, Wealth for the Common Good, Jamaica Plain Forum, and the Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition.

Sign up here for Too Much, our weekly newsletter on inequality and excess:

The Case for Increasing Taxes on the Wealthy

It is clear that the U.S. needs to reduce government expenditures in a responsible way. But if our lens is entirely focused on the expenditure side of the equation, we're going to miss a huge part of the solution.

IPS expert Chuck Collins discusses an economic and moral rationale for increasing taxes on the wealthy at TEDx.

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Recent Work

Blog
Karen Dolan Weighs in on Romney's Latest Gaffe
February 2, 2012 - The "ample safety net" that Mitt referenced during an interview with CNN's Soledad O'Brien would be shredded if his policies were to be enacted. By Emily Schwartz Greco

Op-Ed
A Better Way of Measuring Progress in Maryland
January 30, 2012 - GDP doesn't measure most of what's necessary for a good life. By Karen Dolan

Op-Ed
Immobility Nation
January 30, 2012 - For most people facing poverty today in the United States, the concept of America as the land of opportunity is just a fable. By Salvatore Babones, published in Common Dreams and The (Highland, CA) Community News

Blog
Good News and Bad News about GDP Growth
January 27, 2012 - Americans are in for a long, hard slog. By Salvatore Babones

Blog
Tax-Haven Abuse Film Hits the Fast Lane
January 26, 2012 - "We're Not Broke," the new documentary about tax-dodging corporations, premiered at Sundance. By Chuck Collins

Blog
Should We All Start Praying for Mitt Romney?
January 23, 2012 - Absolutely. The GOP Presidential hopeful from Bain Capital has become a walking, talking object lesson on how plutocracy works - and why we desperately need to end it. By Sam Pizzigati

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Buy This Book
- Published January 28, 2009
- ISBN 978-0-7391-3167-1
Mandate for Change: Policies and Leadership for 2009 and Beyond
By Chester Hartman

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.
Buy This Book
- Published December 15, 2008
The Economic Meltdown Funnies
By Chuck Collins and Nick Thorkelson

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.
Buy This Book
- Published May 30, 2007
- ISBN 978-1570756931
The Moral Measure of the Economy
By Chuck Collins and Mary Wright

“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.”

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February 2, 2012

The (Highland, CA) Community News features article “Immobility Nation”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
January 31, 2012

Common Dreams features article “Immobility Nation”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
January 29, 2012

The Federal Times features report “America Is Not Broke”
Visit the publisher's website • See the report
The Institute for Policy Studies puts the savings from overseas base closures as high as $184 billion over 10 years.
January 19, 2012

Time Magazine features report “Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging”
Visit the publisher's website • See the report
"A recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based think tank, found that CEOs at large U.S. firms earned, on average, $10.8 million in 2010, a 28% increase from the year before, while the average worker took home $33,121, a mere 3% more. At that level, CEOs’ paychecks are 325 times bigger than their employees’...

"Chuck Collins, a specialist on income inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies, advocates tax reform that would hike levies on the wealthiest and end the abuse of offshore havens; new corporate rules that would enhance labor and community influence over company management; and restrictions on the ability of Big Business to fund and lobby politicians. Inequality 'is part of the natural dynamic of capitalism when there are no checks to counterbalance wealth and power,' Collins asserts."
January 8, 2012

Hometown Annapolis
Visit the publisher's website
The movie's title came from another expert, Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies, and references the common refrain from politicians that the country is broke. The contention of the film is that if big corporations paid their equal share, a big chunk of money woes would disappear.
December 13, 2011

Daily Review Atlas
Visit the publisher's website
“These are the same institutions that won’t lend you a dime to buy a house or expand a business or hire workers,” says journalist Sam Pizzigati, editor of the online weekly “Too Much” from the Institute for Policy Studies. “These are the same institutions that illegally foreclosed on thousands of homeowners nationwide – even people who kept payments up.”
December 13, 2011

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle features article “The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
December 13, 2011

The Baltimore Sun features article “The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
"Unfortunately, it was very easy to choose 10," says Sam Pizzigati, editor of the think tank’s “Too Much” weekly newsletter. "That's the problem with our economy at the current time."

Pizzigati says he could have made things easy by just choosing the top 10 players in the hedge fund industry.
December 10, 2011

The Columbia Missourian features blog “The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares”
Visit the publisher's website • See the blog
December 10, 2011

The (Stroudsburg, PA) Pocono Record features blog “The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares”
Visit the publisher's website • See the blog

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Sign up here for Too Much, our weekly newsletter on inequality and excess:

The following are all projects of Inequality and the Common Good:

Inequality.org

This new inequality.org site aims to be your portal into all things online related to the income and wealth gaps that so divide us, in the United States and throughout the world. Visit www.Inequality.org

Too Much

Each and every week, Too Much explores excess and inequality, in the United States and throughout the world. We cover a wide swatch of territory, everything from the latest executive pay outrage to the most current research insights on how staggering income and wealth divides are impacting our health and our happiness. Visit www.TooMuchOnline.org

Common Security Clubs

These are uncertain times. The Great Recession has reminded us of our vulnerabilities: debt, foreclosure, unemployment, job insecurity, evaporating savings, and rising costs. Common Security Clubs are a safe place where neighbors come together to increase their personal security in a rapidly changing world. Visit www.CommonSecurityClub.org

Class Action and www.classism.org

Class Action is a project based at the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. We provide a dynamic framework and analysis, as well as safe space, for people from across the class spectrum to explore class and to identify and begin to dismantle classism. We accomplish this through trainings, workshops, organizational consulting, resources, public awareness, and our blog, Classism Exposed. Visit www.Classism.org

The Other 98%

The Other 98% is a grassroots network of concerned citizens fed up with the status quo in Washington. We seek practical solutions to the many challenges facing America. We stand against the bankers, CEOs and lobbyists who have hijacked our democracy to serve themselves at the expense of everyone else. Visit www.Other98.com

Wealth for the Common Good

Wealth for the Common Good is a network of business leaders, high-income households and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation. Our membership includes entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, school teachers, engineers and elected officials of all backgrounds, political stripes and from all over the country. Visit www.WealthForCommonGood.org

Jamaica Plain Forum

Jamaica Plain Forum is a free, public series of discussions, lectures, workshops, films, and events addressing current topics of interest to the Jamaica Plain community, a neighborhood in Boston where our IPS New England office is based. Visit www.JamaicaPlainForum.org

Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition

The Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition (JPNET) brings together neighbors to address the ongoing challenges of a hurting economy, climate change, and the rising costs of healthcare, food, and energy, and prepare for a transition to a new economy. We are part of Transition U.S. Visit www.jptransition.org

Inequality and the Common Good

The Case for Increasing Taxes on the Wealthy

Recent Work

The (Highland, CA) Community News features article “Immobility Nation”

Common Dreams features article “Immobility Nation”

The Federal Times features report “America Is Not Broke”

Time Magazine features report “Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging”

Hometown Annapolis

Daily Review Atlas

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle features article “The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011”

The Baltimore Sun features article “The 10 Greediest Americans of 2011”

The Columbia Missourian features blog “The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares”

The (Stroudsburg, PA) Pocono Record features blog “The Other 99 Percent: How the U.S. Compares”