Economic opportunity is not distributed equally across places. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent protests for racial justice have drawn attention to the stark gaps between Black and white communities in health, life expectancy, job quality, homeownership, and wealth, among many metrics of well-being. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that where children
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
The drums sound as to income and wealth inequality as an issue for the 2020 Democratic Presidential primaries. The loudest voices calling for increasing taxes on owners, investors and entrepreneurs – with a view that raising taxes on high-end income families is a good in of itself. All this jawing on hiking taxes on
The rise of income inequality and the struggles of so many families to get ahead have shaken American politics across the spectrum. President Donald Trump invokes the plight of “the forgotten people.” Liberals call for massive new government programs. Wall Street titan Jamie Dimon proposes “a Marshall Plan for America.” Ideological conservatives warn of a
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban has proposed a solution for income inequality that doesn’t involve dismantling capitalism: Business owners should give all their employees equity.
“The biggest issue for entrepreneurs, for capitalists, for those of us who are successful is, if someone is only going to be paid
A recent study by the Federal Reserve reveals the shocking extent of accelerating wealth inequality in America. Out of America’s total assets of $114 trillion owned by Americans in 2018, the wealthiest 10% of Americans owned 70% (up from 61% in 1989), while the bottom 50% of American households had virtually
Since Bill McGlashan, the cofounder of a prominent social and environmental impact investing fund, TPG Rise, was charged in the recent college admissions bribery scandal, people in the impact investing community have faced another fierce round of questions about their relationships with economic inequality, power, and privilege.
Joining broader criticism of philanthropy and impact investing from
It’s nearly impossible to read the news these days without running across mentions of economic inequality.
In recent months, politicians have debated the merits of raising marginal tax rates on the wealthy, a move proponents say could reduce economic inequalities. Likewise, economic inequality takes center stage when columnists discuss the extreme riches of
The past year ushered in a new level of poignant and popular critique of the business of philanthropy, catalyzing widespread discussion and debate about philanthropy’s role in perpetuating and exacerbating economic inequality and racial injustice. Books like Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas and Edgar Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth became essential
Many Washington conversations about inequality focus on income. The amount of money that American workers and families make is indeed important for their economic security—on average, wages and salaries account for nearly 80% of income for U.S. households. The income inequality and wage stagnation that have persisted for decades certainly pose threats to
We live in unequal times. The causes and consequences of widening disparities in income and wealth have become a defining debate of our age. Researchers have made major inroads into documenting trends in either income or wealth inequality in the United States, but we still know little about how the two evolve together — an important question
Former United States President Barack Obama believes that ballooning wealth inequality is a threat to society, and that those who have the means should help those who are less fortunate.
“Right now I’m actually surprised by how much money I got,” the 44th President said in his address to more than 10,000 people gathered in Johannesburg, South
Cathy Burch and her twin sister Deborah began working 27 years ago, at the age of 19. Cathy took a job at WinCo, a supermarket chain. Her sister went to work at a telephone company. Cathy stayed at WinCo; Deborah moved around. By 2014, an article in Forbes reports, Deborah had about $30,000 in retirement savings,
Wealth inequality continues to grow, according to the 2018 edition of the World Inequality Report. In the past three decades, 28% of the aggregate increase in real incomes in North America and western Europe was captured by the top 1% of earners. The bottom half saw less than 10% of this increase. Inequality has also
You probably know the numbers on income inequality by now: The share of all income going to the top 1 percent of Americans now stands at around 20 percent, which is a big and disturbing number. But what about wealth inequality?
Income is a relatively straightforward matter of wages and compensation. Wealth is more mercurial: