About

Why target inequality? And why now, in 2012? Because inequality – the gap between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, or more realistically the top 10 or 20 percent of the population and the other 80 or 90 percent who are struggling to make ends meet– has in recent years increased to a level not seen since the late 1920s. And – not coincidentally, we believe – economic instability has likewise become more prevalent and more painful. The Great Recession that began around 2008 and has given way to sluggish growth is reminiscent of the Great Depression that began in 1930 and finally ended only with the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Occupy Wall Street has taken up the call against inequality and brought the word to the center of economic debates. And 2012 is an election year, in which President Obama will be struggling for re-election against a Republican nominee whose proposed policies are more likely to increase inequality than to reduce it.
When the U.S. economy is not delivering full employment, and when financial instability can upend the best laid plans of working families to live in affordable housing or fund their retirement, something must be done. We are starting this blog in 2012 as one small effort to oppose the Republican call for austerity. We don't believe that belt-tightening is the way to solve the current crisis. On the contrary, our view is that increased spending by working families and state and local governments is what will pull the economy out of its slump.
This home page contains the first section of a paper we have written, "How to Unblock the Economy by Reducing Inequality," and the full paper is contained in the page titled "Read the Paper." Please read the paper and comment. We will try to respond as thoroughly as we can in future posts, and we encourage the interchange of ideas among our readers.