Inequality

Supply Shortages – Don’t Blame Covid

2021-10-05

The world is facing a critical supply-chain failure. Everything from energy shortages in China and the UK to household appliances and taco sauce in the United States...

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The COVID Bubble

2021-03-04

With equity markets reaching new heights at a time of rising income and wealth inequality, it should be obvious that todays market mania will end in tears, reproducing the economic injustices of the 2008 crash...

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The unseen 'slow violence' that affects millions

2021-02-07

Not all violence is fast. Hidden in plain sight across society, there is a kind of harm that happens too slowly to see, says Richard Fisher.

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Five Cheers for 2021

2020-12-28

After a year of death, despair, and deep uncertainty, there are glimmers of light on the horizon. Not only is responsible leadership returning to the United States, but there is...

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How COVID-19 Will Increase Inequality in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

2020-11-05

Emerging markets and developing economies grew consistently in the two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, allowing for much-needed gains

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Capitalism isn't working anymore. Here's how the pandemic could change it forever

2020-10-20

Capitalism is in crisis. The pandemic could change it forever, in favor of workers and those in greatest need.

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The uncertain future of capitalism after coronavirus

2020-10-19

The pandemic made a global economic slowdown much worse. Maybe its time to rethink a system based on endless growth.

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The Redistribution Games

2020-10-02

Life is not the Olympics, where talent and training determine an athlete’s performance. It’s more like a Roman arena in which well-armed gladiators vanquish unarmed ...

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Trust Funds for All

2020-07-15

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many flaws in advanced economies, not least the fact that inequality can be deadly. The case for giving all citizens a capital endowment – reflecting both their inalienable dignity and society’s return on its public inves

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The Main Street Manifesto

2020-06-28

The historic protests sweeping America were long overdue, not just as a response to racism and police violence, but also as a revolt against entrenched plutocracy.

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The Post-Pandemic Social Contract

2020-06-13

While many recent proposals for reforming capitalism would substantially change the way our economies operate, they do not fundamentally alter the narrative about how market economies should work; nor do they represent a radical departure for economic pol

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A Chronicle of a Lost Decade Foretold

2020-05-31

Many on the left still cling to the hope that the COVID-19 crisis will translate into the use of state power on behalf of the powerless. But those in authority have never hesitated to harness government intervention to the preservation of oligarchy...

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COVID-19: The Capitalist Emperor Has No Clothes

2020-04-20

The systemic failure of the capitalist order triggered by the coronavirus has reinforced the growing awareness that extreme wealth inequality...

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The Pandemic Stress Test

2020-03-17

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the underlying weaknesses in national economies, health systems, and even political ideologies.

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Inequality and Economic Growth

2020-02-03

Economic policymakers can no longer afford to view inequality as an issue separate from boosting employment and incomes. Addressing it through a wealth tax, combined with more effective antitrust policies and enforcement, has become essential to sustainin

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Another Year of Living Dangerously

2020-01-25

Governments, and ultimately people, can reverse the alarming trends of 2019. But 2020 will be another year of living dangerously if short-term policies continue to be pursued at the expense of long-term vision.

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The Digital Money Revolution

2019-11-16

The rapid pace and sheer scale of innovation in digital currencies and mobile payments indicates that a monetary revolution is forthcoming. The choice for governments

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The Arab Winter of Discontent

2019-11-07

Following mass uprisings in Algeria and Sudan this summer, protesters have now taken to the streets in Lebanon and Iraq to demand better economic conditions and an end to mis-governance.

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The humble three-wheeled tuk-tuk has become the symbol of Iraq’s uprising

2019-11-03

It is tuk-tuk vs. Land Cruiser at the heart of Iraqs uprising — and the scrappy tuk-tuk, for now, is winning.

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Santiago Under Siege

2019-11-03

At least 19 dead and untold wounded. A half-dozen subway stations attacked with firebombs. Hundreds of supermarkets vandalized and looted.

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Why Rich Cities Rebel

2019-10-24

Having lost touch with public sentiment, officials in Paris, Hong Kong, and Santiago failed to anticipate that a seemingly modest policy action (a fuel-tax increase, an extradition bill, and higher metro prices, respectively) would trigger a massive socia

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Democracy on a Knife-Edge

2019-10-13

The failure to protect minority rights is a readily understood consequence of the political logic behind the emergence of democracy.

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No Country for Poor Men: How Lebanon’s Debt Has Exacerbated Inequality

2019-10-13

After Lebanons civil war ended in 1990, it began rapidly expanding the public debt. This debt has exacerbated widening socioeconomic inequalities, now threatening the countrys stability.

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The Benefits of a Progressive Consumption Tax

2019-09-17

Many economists already favor a consumption-based tax system for raising revenue on grounds of efficiency and simplicity.

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