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

Commentary
A Primer for Taming Corporate Power
May 15, 2013 - For social change, slow and steady may win the race. By Sam Pizzigati

Column
Austerity Will Leave Us Crying '96 Tears'
May 1, 2013 - But America's wealthy don't seem to mind. By Sam Pizzigati

Column
The Art of Inequality
April 17, 2013 - Monumental gifts to museums are coinciding with the erosion of arts programs at the nation's public schools. By Sam Pizzigati, published in The Providence Journal

Column
Shouldn't We Base Our Tax Policy on More than Hunches?
April 10, 2013 - The latest economic evidence supports raising taxes on the richest Americans. By Sam Pizzigati

Column
A Wall Street Powerhouse Attorney Talks Sense
April 3, 2013 - Taxes can do more than simply raise revenue. By Sam Pizzigati

Op-Ed
Transplanting Taxes from Corporations to the Rest of Us
April 3, 2013 - American taxpayers are increasingly picking up the tab for unpaid corporate taxes. By Scott Klinger

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Buy This Book
- Published April 15, 2012
- 168
- ISBN 1609945921
99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality Is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It
By Chuck Collins

Chuck Collins' new book provides revealing and powerful information about inequality in all realms of today’s world, including individual wealth and power, corporate wealth and power, media control, political influence, and other areas.
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.

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April 23, 2013

The Providence Journal features article “The Art of Inequality”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
April 18, 2013

Common Dreams
Visit the publisher's website
"The support for more equal wealth distribution 'should surprise no one,' said Sam Pizzigati, an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and Editor of Too Much, an online weekly on excess and inequality.

"'Previous research has shown clearly that Americans, given the choice, opt for the much more equitable distribution of wealth in Sweden over the top-heavy distribution we have today in the United States,' he continued.

"'And keep in mind that no Americans have ever voted for greater inequality,' he said.

"Of course, policies are not framed to the public as filling the pockets of a select few. 'The rule changes over the past three decades that have so tilted our nation's treasure toward the richest of our rich have all been cloaked as moves that would enrich all Americans, not a special wealthy few,' Pizzigati noted."
March 26, 2013

The Muscatine (IA) Journal features article “Inequality Is Hurting Us All”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
March 20, 2013

Common Dreams features article “Inequality Is Hurting Us All”
• See the article
January 29, 2013

Canton Daily Ledger
Visit the publisher's website
Sam Pizzigati from the Institute for Policy Studies says, “Since the late 1970s we’ve witnessed an assault on the building blocks of greater equality – strong unions, progressive taxes, regulatory limits on business behavior – that has hollowed out the American middle class. Good manufacturing jobs have largely disappeared, outsourced away. Most Americans no longer make things. They provide services.”

. . . The elite, financing both Republicans and Democrats and successfully getting legislation benefiting the 1%, have their Capitol Hill mouthpieces cry, “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” However, their mutual coziness with globalization actually means, “Lower wages, lower wages, lower wages.”
January 14, 2013

The Final Call
Visit the publisher's website
Bill Fletcher, Jr. long-time labor activist, and senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies recently authored a book titled “They’re Bankrupting Us - And 20 Other Myths About Unions” argues that unions are necessary for democracy and to ensure economic and social justice.

. . . “We have to build a new labor movement,” Mr. Fletcher explained to The Final Call. “We need a leadership that understands the labor crisis from the ground up—not this top-down module now in existence.”
January 1, 2013

USA Today features article “The fiscal cliff ... of '32”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
December 13, 2012

Unionosity features article “In Fact, Fairly Taxing the Rich Won't Scare Them Away”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
December 12, 2012

The Albany Tribune features article “In Fact, Fairly Taxing the Rich Won't Scare Them Away”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article
December 7, 2012

The (Prestonsburg, KY) Floyd County Times features article “For Pete's Sake, What's Happened to Our Democracy?”
Visit the publisher's website • See the article

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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 Providence Journal features article “The Art of Inequality”

Common Dreams

The Muscatine (IA) Journal features article “Inequality Is Hurting Us All”

Common Dreams features article “Inequality Is Hurting Us All”

Canton Daily Ledger

The Final Call

USA Today features article “The fiscal cliff ... of '32”

Unionosity features article “In Fact, Fairly Taxing the Rich Won't Scare Them Away”

The Albany Tribune features article “In Fact, Fairly Taxing the Rich Won't Scare Them Away”

The (Prestonsburg, KY) Floyd County Times features article “For Pete's Sake, What's Happened to Our Democracy?”

Project Staff

Associate Fellows

Inequality.org

Too Much

Common Security Clubs

Class Action and www.classism.org

The Other 98%

Wealth for the Common Good

Jamaica Plain Forum

Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition