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Why 20th Century Tools Cannot Be Used to Address 21st Century Income Inequality GalleryWhy 20th Century Tools Cannot Be Used to Address 21st Century Income Inequality
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Why 20th Century Tools Cannot Be Used to Address 21st Century Income Inequality
Branko Milanovic
February 16, 2018
The remarkable period of reduced income and wealth inequality in the rich countries, roughly from the end of the Second World War to the early 1980s, relied on four pillars: strong trade unions, mass education, high taxes and large government transfers. Since the increase of inequality twenty or more years ago, the failed attempts to stem its further rise have relied on trying, or at least advocating, the expansion of all or some of the four pillars. But neither of them will do the job in the 21st century.
February 14: U.S. 12-Month CPI Inflation Rose 2.1%, Stronger Than Expected
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.
How Should We Think About the Effects of Corporate Tax Cuts?
Paul Krugman
February 08, 2018
Late last year Republicans enacted a huge tax cut, mainly for corporations. They then seized on some seemingly supportive data points – investment announcements by some major corporations, bonuses paid to some employees, an uptick in some measures of wage growth – as evidence that the cut was already benefiting workers. But while there is a case for cutting corporate taxes, the logic of that case says that any benefits to workers should unfold gradually over time, not show up in a few weeks.
February 02: Total Non-Farm Payroll Employment Increased by 200,000 in January
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 200,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in construction, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.
Dream Hoarders: Is the Upper Middle Class Leaving Everyone Else Behind?
Andreas Kakolyris
January 30, 2018
On November 15, 2017, the City University of New York Graduate Center and the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality co-hosted a presentation by Richard Reeves, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, on the topic Dream Hoarders: Is the Upper Middle Class Leaving Everyone Else Behind The presentation focused on the widening gap between those in the top quintile of the income distribution and the remaining 80 percent and was based on Reeves’ latest book Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem and What to Do About It.
A Primer on Rules of Origin in NAFTA Negotiations and What Is Next
Richard J Nugent III
December 22, 2017
The latest round of negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on November 21 ended with no major breakthroughs on contentious issues such as autos, dairy and rules of origin among others. The US administration’s demand that at least half of a NAFTA-qualifying vehicle should be made in the US and 85 percent in North America met stiff resistance from Canada and Mexico.
December 21: U.S. GDP Rose 3.2 Percent in Q3, Revised Downward from 3.3 Percent
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
December 13: Federal Reserve to Raise Fed Funds Target Range to 1.25 to 1.50 Percent
Effective December 14, 2017, the Federal Open Market Committee directs the Desk to undertake open market operations as necessary to maintain the federal funds rate in a target range of 1.25 to 150 percent, including overnight reverse repurchase operations.