All Robert Reich

For worker wages to rise, the unemployment rate would have to sink far lower than it is today, probably below 4 percent. And there’s reason to believe the link between falling unemployment and rising wages has been severed.

Insider trading is illegal but major players on Wall Street still make tons of money because they're good at using confidential information.

Since 2000, the incomes of young people who have graduated college have barely risen. The problem is this; while a college education is now a prerequisite for joining the middle class, the middle class is in lousy shape. A college degree no longer guarantees a good job. 

If you want a single reason for why Democrats lost big on Election Day 2014 it’s this: Median household income continues to drop, and this is the first 'recovery' in memory in which this has happened.

Private university endowments are now around $550 billion, centered in a handful of prestigious institutions. Public universities, by contrast, have little or no endowment income. They get almost all their funding from state governments, and those subsidies have been shrinking.

America’s wealthy are richer than they’ve ever been, and big corporations are sitting on more cash they know what to do with. But the wealthy aren’t investing in new companies.

In America, people with lots of money can avoid the consequences of bad bets and big losses by cashing out at the first sign of trouble – like Donald Trump and his ill-fated Atlantic City casinos. But workers who move to a place like Atlantic City for a job, invest in a home there, and build their skills, have no protections

For years, some of the nation’s most talented young people have flocked to Harvard Business School and other elite business schools  in order to take up positions at the top rungs of American corporations. But are they learning the right lessons about helping society thrive? 

Berkely, Calif. is facing major opposition from the beverage industry for its proposed soda tax, which will be on the ballot in November. The beverage industry has spent millions defeating such measures across the country, but can it do so in America's most progressive city? 

Detroit's bankruptcy is a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they’d otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans. Are Detroit, its public employees, poor residents, and bondholders the only ones who should sacrifice when 'Detroit' can’t pay its bills? Or does the relevant sphere of responsibility include Detroit’s affluent suburbs?

Millions of young people head to college and universities, assuming that a four-year liberal arts degree is the only gateway to the American middle class. It shouldn’t be.

American kids are heading back to school, but they're entering back into a school system that is widening the achievement gap between lower and higher-income children. Here's what we can do about it. 

Americans are sick of politics. A large portion of the public doesn’t even bother voting, assuming the political game is fixed. The only way back toward a democracy and economy that work for the majority is for most of us to get politically active once again, becoming organized and mobilized.

Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas worked to keep prices low and pay his employees more. No wonder that when the board moved to oust him in favor of someone who would increase profitability for shareholders, managers, employees, and customers of Market Basket were outraged. 

People who contribute to society, such as teachers and social workers, make far less money than they should, writes Robert Reich. For example, Robert Reich points out that personal-care aids who help the elderly and people with disabilities make about $20,000 a year. 

People should stop worrying about whether or not giant global corporations are 'American,' writes Robert Reich. Instead, the US should focus on what the US wants from these corporations, like job creation.

Self-made wealthy people are disappearing – six of today's 10 wealthiest Americans are heirs to prominent fortunes after being 'born into the right family,' writes Robert Reich. What does this mean for the rest of the US?

Walgreen Co. may move its corporate headquarters to Switzerland as part of a merger with European drugstore chain Alliance Boots. But if Walgreen's becomes a Swiss corporation – and gets to pay less taxes – then Walgreen's shouldn't be able to influence US politics, writes Robert Reich.

With Hobby Lobby ruling, the Supreme Court doesn't see economic power struggle between corporations and people, writes Robert Reich. Instead, SCOTUS's ruling gives Hobby Lobby the power to deny employees' rights to contraceptive services.

Hillary Clinton's personal finances have recently become a popular topic to debate over. But why the topic has become controversial isn't about how much money Hillary Clinton and her family has – it is about the rise in wealth inequality in the US, writes Robert Reich.