The Co-op That’s Keeping Community Money Out of Big Banks
How marginalized groups are working to counteract historical wealth inequality.
Why There Is Little Moral Basis For Cannabis Consumption Remaining A Crime
Recent high-profile media coverage has prompted public recognition that cannabis in particular forms can have beneficial medical effects for some conditions such as epilepsy.
Product Labels Like ‘Fair Trade’ Mean Less Than You’d Think
Buying ethically sourced products is not as straightforward as it might seem, according to the first large-scale analysis of sustainable sourcing practices.
Why In The Future It Should Be Consumers That Go On Strike
I belong to a generation that has been told there is no other choice other than to be flexible in the labour market. For many of us, the idea of a long-term employment contract in a company where there is the possibility to progress belongs to another time.
How Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth Become Exploited Workers In The US
The Trump administration has released a series of executive orders targeting immigration at the U.S. southern border.
Why Prison Building Is Booming In Rural America
The election of Donald Trump signals an end to the recent optimism about reducing the mass imprisonment of two million U.S. citizens each year.
How To Identify And Stop Fraudsters
A common stereotype of fraudsters is that they are psychopaths. That fraudsters are considered manipulative, callous and remorseless is understandable, considering the consequences of fraud.
Flood And Hurricane Risk Varies Widely Across The US
New evidence based on groundwater and stream flow reveals mixed messages for the United States, as flood and hurricane frequency depends on region.
Why Every American Deserves a Guaranteed Minimum Income From Common Wealth
The big, rarely asked question about our current economy is who gets the benefits of common wealth? Common wealth has several components. One consists of gifts of nature we inherit together: our atmosphere and oceans, watersheds and wetlands, forests and fertile plains, and so on (including, of course, fossil fuels).
Why Corruption Looks Different In China Than In The West
There has been significant suspicion in Australia and elsewhere on the wealth of particular business people, investors and companies from China. There’s always the suggestion that there is something unacceptable about it...
Does More Regulation Lead To More Fraud?
When top-level managers find governance mechanisms too coercive, they’re more likely to commit fraud, according to a new paper.
How to Break the Power of Money
We can refuse to accept the pervasive, but false, claims that money is wealth and a growing GDP improves the lives of all.
Why a Tax on Wall Street Trades is a Great Idea
One of Bernie Sanders’s most important proposals didn’t receive enough attention and should become a law even without a president Sanders. Hillary Clinton should adopt it for her campaign.
The Little-Known Farmworkers Who Sparked the Biggest Labor Movement in U.S. History
There would be no Cesar Chavez without the Filipino manongs of Delano, California, whose decision to strike set off the most significant labor movement the United States has ever seen.
Why Give Breaks to Huge Corporations When We Could Invest Down the Street?
Cities and states fork over an estimated $70 billion each year to large companies that don’t need public assistance to thrive. We could spend that money on our own neighborhoods.
There Is Another Way To Do Capitalism
Marissa Mayer tells us a lot about why Americans are so angry, and why anti-establishment fury has become the biggest single force in American politics today.
How To Reverse The Widening Racial Wealth Gap
Wealth inequality is even more of a problem than income inequality. That’s because you have to have enough savings from income to begin to accumulate wealth – buying a house or investing in stocks and bonds, or saving up to send a child to college.
Here Is Where Bernie's Justice Ideas Already Work
In an election year, we hear endless promises of what our politicians will do to help the people. But are the ideas we’re hearing from Bernie Sanders and others—like Medicare for all, free college tuition, paid family leave—just slogans to pander to voters suffering under stagnating wages and burdensome debt? Could those ideas ever actually take hold?
When It Comes To Taxes, How Do We Decide What's Fair?
The tax dealings of a number of politicians have come under scrutiny this week, following news of their offshore holdings in the Panama Papers. The leaks have led to the resignation of the Icelandic prime minister – and the UK prime minister, David Cameron, has been criticised for shares he used to have in an offshore fund set up
How Credit Agencies Are Watching You Online To Limit Credit
China has a problem. Social trust is at miserable levels, leading to a shaky business environment in which half of all written contracts are blatantly breached.
Why Even $15 An Hour Is Not Enough In Some States
Low-wage workers nationwide have been campaigning for a $15 hourly "living wage" and the right to organize without employer labor law-breaking. But a new think tank report says that in most states, $15 is not enough - even for one person.
4 Reasons The Wall Street Journal’s Attack on Bernie Sanders is Totally Bogus
I’ve had so many calls about an article appearing earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal – charging that Bernie Sanders’s proposals would carry a “price tag” of $18 trillion over a 10-year period – that it’s necessary to respond.
Why Do We Assume That Life Is Fair?
Income inequality in America has been growing rapidly, and is expected to increase. While the widening wealth gap is a hot topic in the media and on the campaign trail, there’s quite a disconnect between the perceptions of economists and those of the general public.
The Rest of the Story About Greece
EU’s economic demands seek to derail small business and local communities, paving the way for multinational corporate giants. One demand is that Greece abolish any laws restricting the days or hours a business can operate despite the fact that several European countries including have enacted such policies to protect workers and small business, including Germany.
Cracking Down On The New Teflon Dons And Their Crime Families
Like green-shaded teflon dons – mobster John Gotti’s nickname for managing to stay out of jail – the largest banks have been repeatedly prosecuted over the past decade and yet have so far avoided any harsher consequences. Instead they’ve received “deferred prosecutions” or non-prosecutions that trade criminal charges for promised reforms and criminal fines.
Down With Multinational Corporations And Up With People
We’ve made progress this year — raising the minimum wage in dozens of states and cities, providing equal marriage rights in a majority of states, limiting carbon emissions. But there’s far more to do.
America's $124 Billion Secret Welfare Program
The fact that abuse of the Social Security Disability system is occurring is no revelation for it has been known for some time to all but the casual observer. Some people are and have been drawing funds when they are not actually disabled.
Hoarding Capitals of The World: Where The Very Rich Live
Where do the rich live? Mainly in the banking, investment, and speculation centers. I wonder why? To put a spin on an old saying, "vultures of a feather flock together".
Why the Trader Joe's Model Benefits Workers--And the Bottom-Line
A well paid, healthy, happy employee is a more productive employee. How much more productive? Very, and there are plenty of examples of these employees paying for themselves. Why don't most businesses do the same? Because shorting an employee's wages flows into the pockets of the management and owners for awhile.