The risks of algorithmic discrimination and bias have received much attention and scrutiny, and rightly so. Yet there is another more insidious side-effect of our increasingly AI-powered society — the systematic inequality created by the changing nature of work itself. We fear a future where robots take our jobs, but what happens when a significant
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the resulting recession is best understood in the context of what has happened to the U.S. economy over the past 40 years. These four decades marked a period of growing economic inequality and slower growth that left the economy and our workers and
If there’s anyone who should be talking about economic inequality it’s Jerome Powell, a man who as Fed chair has aimed a spotlight on the issue and put the Fed on an intentional trajectory toward reducing it through policy.
Yes, but: Pressed for answers on how the central bank’s policies have impacted wealth and income inequality among
Nationwide protests have cast a spotlight on racism and inequality in the United States. Now a major bank has put a price tag on how much the economy has lost as a result of discrimination against African Americans: $16 trillion.
Since 2000, U.S. gross domestic product lost that much as a result of discriminatory practices in
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the Caldwell family of Kansas City was just making ends meet. Derrick was working as an electrician; Tiana was training office workers; and A.J. was looking forward to playing football after school.
CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger asked Derrick, “If you go back to end of
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated existing racial and gender inequality, widening financial and wealth gaps further as the virus creates disproportionate aftershocks across the economy. Several new reports and surveys highlighted those disparities to show the possible extent of longer-term damage resulting from the
The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the vast inequalities that exist within the US economy. Monopoly power should be at the top of policymakers’ list when they consider reforms to benefit our most vulnerable citizens.
It’s only been a few months since the United States was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant health
It is impossible to ignore the stark disparities of income and wealth that prevail in the United States, and a great many of us are troubled by this state of affairs.
But is economic inequality really what bothers us? An influential essay published in 1987 by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt suggests that we have misidentified the
Three countries — the United States, Brazil, and Mexico — account for nearly half (46%) of the world’s reported COVID-19 deaths, yet they contain only 8.6% of the world’s population. Some 60% of Europe’s deaths are concentrated in just three countries — Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom — which
As the world struggles against the current coronavirus crisis, could social and economic transformations follow as before?
Below, Stanford University historian Walter Scheidel takes on this question, looking at how disease outbreaks in the past disrupted the status quo and catalyzed change.
For example, the Black Death, the bubonic plague that tore through Europe and the Middle East
Efforts to quickly restart economic activity risk further dividing Americans into two major groups along socioeconomic lines: one that has the power to control its exposure to the coronavirus outbreak and another that is forced to choose between potential sickness or financial devastation.
It is
The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to recognize, once again and with fresh eyes, that the American project has been living paycheck to paycheck. If that money suddenly stops flowing, in particular, to small businesses, manufacturers, and the service and hospitality industries, the entire country would go into arrest. And as is the nature
America’s economy has almost doubled in size over the last four decades, but broad measures of the nation’s economic health conceal the unequal distribution of gains. A small portion of the population has pocketed most of the new wealth, and the coronavirus pandemic is laying bare the consequences of the unequal distribution of
The most fundamental tragedy of the coronavirus crisis is human. It is lives being lost. Somewhere close behind is the feeling of desperation shared by working people. In an economy where it is estimated that 50 percent of the labor force survives from paycheck to paycheck, we are facing an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions
As the coronavirus spreads across the globe, it appears to be setting off a devastating feedback loop with another of the gravest forces of our time: economic inequality. In societies where the virus hits, it is deepening the consequences of inequality, pushing many of the burdens onto the losers of today’s polarized economies
Economic inequality is at an all-time high in the United States. Some claim that decades of systematic legislation have resulted in the wealthiest three families owning more wealth than the bottom half of the country.
This trend is not reflected in other countries with developed economies: Out of all 36 countries with
As world leaders in politics, business and economics converge on the Swiss village of Davos this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a new report published by Oxfam International reveals the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 percent of the planet’s population.
The
The world’s political and economic elite are descending on the small Swiss Alps town of Davos this week for the annual World Economic Forum meeting where they hope to set this year’s “global, regional and industry agendas.”
Approximately 3,000 people will be attending this year — from President Donald Trump to German
The news for both climate change and economic inequality has been undeniably dire. In December the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report Card concluded that a critical cooling system around the North Pole may be breaking down, just the latest ominous survey about the existential threat of the