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Will Today Mark a Turning Point in the Capital vs. Labor Story?

The owners of capital have had a great run over the past few decades. They've made a killing by exploiting an open global trading system, an abundance of cheap labor, and technological advances. Times have been so good that Forbes lists a record 1,645 billionaires worldwide, including 268 new ones in just the past year. 
 
Yet nothing lasts forever, and systems that favor the few over the many are especially vulnerable to disruption. It's always hard to say when the shift will come, or what will mark a turning point.
Blog
David Callahan

An L.A. story that's all too familiar

When a city is forced to spend more on Wall Street fees than on basic public services, it is the sign of trouble. When that city is one of America's biggest population centers, it is the sign of a burgeoning crisis.

In the media
David Sirota

Fast-Food CEOs Oppose Worker Raises Despite Making 1,200 Times More Than Average Employee

Demos policy analyst Catherine Ruetschlin joins Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! to discuss global fast food strikes taking place, protesting the vast wage disparities between executi

In the media

The Fast Food Strike: The Hard Facts Behind the Big Mac Attack

At $9.85 an hour, 25-year-old Terran Lyons supports herself and two kids as a crew trainer at a McDonald’s in Seattle’s university district. That’s a jump from the $9.19 an hour the high school dropout got when she started, and a step above the state’s $9.32 minimum wage. But it’s hardly enough to be self-sufficient. Lyons is on food stamps. She wouldn’t even be able to afford a Big Mac if it weren’t for the 50 percent employee discount.

In the media
Simone Pathe

Senator Menendez Says Huge Pay Disparity in Fast Food Industry Reaffirms Need for Transparency in CEO Pay

WASHINGTON, DC – Citing a recent report which found an alarming 1000-to-1 pay disparity between fast food CEOs and their front line workers, Senator Menendez again called on Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White to finalize its rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose the ratio between the compensation of their CEO and median worker, as directed by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank “Wall Street Reform Act”.
 
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Press release/statement

What Geithner Did

It seems every day that a well-regarded economist is telling us that the US economy is in dire straits. Larry Summers has warned that we are entering a period of “secular stagnation.” This is a condition in which low-interest rate monetary policy no longer stimulates growth of the economy and well-paying jobs.

Blog
Wallace C. Turbeville

Six Cents to the Dollar: Racial Inequality 60 Years After Brown

Twenty-four cents. That’s what black children in Clarendon, South Carolina were worth per every dollar spent on white children’s education. That's why South Carolina was one of the five states challenged in the famous 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

Blog

Why This Oil Billionaire Wants to Pay Higher Taxes

America's oil and natural gas boom may be bad news for the climate, but it should be good news for state treasuries.
Blog
David Callahan

Fast-food Strike: How Strong is the Case for a Big Wage Hike?

Fast-food workers and labor organizers are planning a strike of global proportions Thursday, based on the premise that low-wage occupations should still be “living wage” occupations. In the US, Thursday’s date – May 15 – carries numerical significance, as actions in as many as 150 cities aim to win a pay raise to at least $15-an-hour from restaurant chains in the industry, as they also push to unionize the companies.

In the media
Mark Trumbull