All Robert Reich
To save capitalism, business leaders express concerns about middle classBusiness leaders realize that their companies and capitalism are at stake, writes Robert Reich. Unless the middle class becomes stronger and more confident, businesses could face more financial trouble.
Three myths about poverty debunkedSome Republicans misinform people about poverty and the economy, writes Robert Reich. What do they say about the poor, and why are they are wrong?
Why Mississippi's voter ID law hurts the poorMississippi's new voter-identification law suppresses those who cannot afford the cost of a photo ID, writes Robert Reich. How is Mississippi's effort to stop voter fraud actually a step back?
How to stop corporate lawbreaking: Prosecute people who break the lawAs General Motors' recall saga continues, 15 GM employees have been fired and five others have been disciplined in light of an internal investigation of GM. But GM as a corporation shouldn't be legally responsible, writes Robert Reich – it should be the individuals who break the law.
Why Seattle's $15 minimum wage is a step in the right directionSeattle's $15 minimum wage is a start to push for a realistic living wage, writes Robert Reich. Why should other US cities follow Seattle's example?
Walmart workers are going on strike to speak out. Why Walmart should listen.Walmart workers will go on strike across the country this week to protest for better jobs and wages. Walmart needs to listen and stop keeping low-wage workers down, writes Robert Reich.
How American capitalism is falling behindPutting ideology aside, the practical choice isn’t between capitalism and 'welfare-state socialism,' Reich writes. It’s between a system that’s working for a few at the top, or one that’s working for just about everyone.
Why the Wall Street bailout was a failureTimothy Geithner's latest book on the Wall Street bailout argues that the bailout worked. But it was a huge failure in some ways, writes Robert Reich.
What America can do to stop income inequalityThe income gap between the top one percent and everyone else has more than tripled in less than 30 years. Why is it bad for American society, and how can Americans close the gap?
Why both sides of the political aisle are turning against Wall StreetMore Americans than ever believe the economy is rigged in favor of Wall Street and big business. As a result, populists on both the Democrat and Republican sides are bending toward one another and against the establishment.
The four biggest myths about income inequalityThough economists have made the case that we're headed toward levels of inequality not seen since the days of the nineteenth-century robber barons, certain myths about inequality still persist. Here are the four most pervasive.
Companies that overpay CEOs should pay higher taxesCEO pay has skyrocketed to hundreds of times that of the typical worker, which is wildly unfair but also bad for the economy. New legislation in California attempts to curb the trend by tying corporate pay to taxes.
Comcast-Time Warner deal is bad for our democracy. Let's end it.Comcast and Time Warner's merger would allow the new company to effectively control what Americans see and hear. Teddy Roosevelt and his anti-trust allies never would have allowed it.
Minimum wage should be $15 an hour. Seven reasons why.MInimum wage reform is gaining steam around the country, and Senate Democrats will soon introduce legislation raising it nationally to $10.10. But we need to be more ambitious. We should be raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
What the 'McCutcheon' decision has to do with today's jobs reportWe can't make the reforms we need to raise wages and create new jobs because some wealthy people and big corporations have a strangle-hold on our politics. 'McCutcheon' makes that strangle-hold even tighter.
The 'McCutcheon' decision will create a vicious cycleAlmost limitless political donations coupled with America’s dramatically widening inequality create a vicious cycle in which the wealthy buy votes that lower their taxes, give them bailouts and subsidies, and deregulate their businesses – thereby making them even wealthier and capable of buying even more votes. Corruption breeds more corruption.
When the 'inequality game' plays out in real lifeA relative handful of Americans receive ever bigger slices of the total national income while most average Americans, working harder than ever, receive smaller ones.
How the Koch brothers are undermining American democracyThe Koch brothers exemplify a new reality that strikes at the heart of America. The vast wealth that has accumulated at the top of the American economy is not itself the problem. The problem is that political power tends to rise to where the money is.
Obamacare is working. It still needs fixing.Obamacare signups surged in the weeks before the March 31 deadline, and the uninsured rate has dropped to its lowest levels since 2008. But a lot about the Affordable Care Act needs fixing — especially the widespread misinformation that continues to surround it.
As CEO pay grows, hourly workers increasingly left behindThe billions of dollars in bonuses paid out to Wall Street executives could double the pay of more than 1 million American minimum wage workers, writes Robert Reich. So why does so much wealth flow into the hands of so few?
