It seems clear that consumers are still tapped out, with their incomes flat for years, and many of the new jobs being created lately are low-wage positions that don't leave people with much spending money.
History reminds us that progress has never come from moderation or retreat. It has come from people who refused to wait their turn, who organized, resisted, and reshaped the nation.
While the longest shutdown in U.S. history leaves millions of Americans with missed paychecks and mounting bills, this piece explores why we must build wealth for all, especially for communities that have been historically kept from economic opportunity.
Despite living in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, millions of Americans remain financially vulnerable, with stark racial disparities in who has enough emergency savings to weather even a brief crisis.
While the government shutdown left us without recent economic data, the rising Black unemployment rate reveals essential truths about the state of our economy.
In May, Dēmos held a national convening of financial justice leaders to reimagine our financial systems and build community wealth through public banks. These are our top takeaways.
Amid ongoing attacks on worker protections and enforcement, worker-driven social responsibility programs offer alternative, scalable pathways to building collective power for workers across industries.
For too long, the wealthy and powerful have used the cycle of economic and political power to enrich themselves and entrench their control. In this piece, Dēmos president Taifa Smith Butler envisions a more virtuous cycle of power.
Instead of spending trillions to widen disparities, Congress could have made childcare more affordable, improved the nation’s crumbling housing stock, and created a much-overdue program for paid family and medical leave.
On the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we honor those who strived for that victory by defending its true legacy—one that demands not just political participation, but economic justice as well.
A dangerous authoritarian shift is unfolding in real time. Dēmos President, Taifa Smith Butler, calls us to mobilize and act together to defend our democracy.
A strong economy cannot be measured by stock market performance; it must be assessed by everyday people’s ability to meet their basic needs and achieve economic security.
In his reflections on Dēmos’ and NPQ’s Third Reconstruction series, Aron Goldman uplifts the call to look beyond the crises of today and envision a new path toward our collective liberation.
To build the democracy we never had, activating people power—animated by an inclusive vision for our economy, especially through labor unions—is essential.
At a time of racial justice backlash, a call for a full-throated multiracial democracy may seem audacious—it’s also a necessary movement to preserve US democracy at all.
