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Image of a hand lowering a voter registration sheet into an orange box with stacks of voter registration papers on both sides

Threats to Ballot Access: New Report Examines Risks of Wrongful Voter Removals Across the Country

Dēmos examines ballot access issues, voter suppression in AZ, GA, OH, CA, IN, WI, MI, NC, TX, LA 

Press release/statement
August 10, 2023

We are changing the conversation around our democracy and economy by telling influential new stories about our country and its people. Get our latest blog and media updates here. For more in-depth explorations and analyses, visit our Resources page.

Featured
Ground level view of the Wall Street Stock Exchange

Unfinished Business: Revisiting Dodd-Frank and the Path to Economic Progress

On the anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, we reflect on recent banking failures and the inequities inherent in our current financial system. 

Blog
Daniella Zessoules
Black mother and daughter looking at the city river

A Supreme Court Power Grab: Attacking Federal Agencies to Advance an Extremist Agenda

Why the Court's decision to limit the EPA's power to regulate water access is yet another case of eroding the power of the other branches of government at the expense of Black and brown people.

Blog
Ashley Tjhung
supreme court

Supreme Court's Rejection of Affirmative Action Widens the Divide: Dēmos Calls for Renewed Efforts to Combat Systemic Racism

“The 14th Amendment is supposed to be a shield against racism, and now it’s being used as a sword.” 

Press release/statement
Taifa Smith Butler

Why Globalization Doesn't Matter So Much Anymore in the Inequality Debate

President Obama has spent a lot of time in Asia talking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the big trade deal that negotiators have been working on for a few years. But all that energy is probably for naught, at least for the time being, since the TPP isn't going anywhere in Congress anytime soon
Blog
David Callahan

How a New Bill Could Fix the Pay Gap Between Fast-Food CEOs and Workers

No less a capitalist than Henry Ford believed in paying his workforce enough so that the men who built his cars could buy his cars too. At McDonald’s, employees are encouraged to apply for food stamps if they aren’t making enough to eat.
In the media
Willy Blackmore

Food Service is ‘Most Unequal Sector’ in the Economy

The American economy overall is ferociously unequal, but some sectors are more unequal than others. A new study from the left-leaning think tank Demos looked at CEO-to-worker compensation ratios across the labor force in an attempt to determine where inequality is most concentrated. The answer
In the media
Ned Resnikoff

Do We Really Want to Raise Taxes on Capital?

Here's what has been so great about having wealth over the past two decades: not only has it been easy to make lots of money from investing that wealth, but taxes have hovered near a historic low on capital gains and stock dividends. So those with assets to deploy have been getting a twofer: High
Blog
David Callahan

When So Many Workers Hate Their Jobs, We're All Miserable

It's no secret that American consumers are fed up with the quality of service they get from any number of retail and restaurant establishments. Going to a fast food joint is especially unpleasant, as Demos documents in its new report, Fast Food Failure.
Blog
David Callahan

Fatter Cats: Executive Pay and American Inequality

Executive pay has risen dramatically—both in absolute terms and in relation to median wages—across the last generation. The spike in executive salaries is both a key driver of inequality at the top end of the income spectrum (about half of the “1 percent” are executives or managers at non-financial
In the media
Colin Gordon

Fast-Food CEOs Make 1,200 Times as Much as One of Their Workers—and They Want to Keep it That Way

David Novak is the chief executive of Yum! Brands, the parent company that runs Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. Last year, while Yum! Brands and other restaurant companies lobbied against raising the minimum wage, Novak made at least $22 million—more than 1,000 times what the average fast-food worker
In the media
Zoë Carpenter

Reflecting on $1 Trillion in Student Debt, and Why We're Headed for $2 Trillion

States have disinvested in public higher education and students have been stuck paying the tag.
Blog
Mark Huelsman

Pay Inequality Is a Threat to McDonald's Bottom Line

McDonald’s is losing customers.
Blog
Catherine Ruetschlin

Fast Food CEO Pay Report Highlights Disparity Between Common Worker's Earnings

The news has not been kind to the fast food industry over the past few years. From labor strikes to claims of wage theft, companies like McDonald's and Burger King have taken increasing criticism for treatment of workers and their low wage jobs. Now a new report from New York-based think tank Demos
In the media
Eric Reed