Category Archives: Economic Justice

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Abraham Lincoln, First Annual Message, December 3, 1861 To many Americans, Labor Day is an end-of-summer longContinue reading “Labor Day Thoughts”

After summer recess, Congress will get back to work on two infrastructure bills. One will deal with hard infrastructure (roads and bridges) and will have bipartisan support. It’s certainly needed because the American Society of Civil Engineers report card has given us a C-. While we have been busy burning up $2 trillion dollars inContinue reading “Hard and Soft Infrastructure”

I grew up in the 1960s and one of my social justice heroes is Robert Francis Kennedy. One of things I admire about him is that he became more liberal over time. Remember that he got his start working for Senator Joe McCarthy, that he fought organized crime in the labor movement, and ordered theContinue reading “The Legacy of RFK”

Tra la, it’s May! The lusty month of May … so goes the song from Lerner and Lowe’s musical “Camelot”. A time to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of spring and to dance around the maypole. But it’s also time to reflect on the status of labor in our society. On the church calendar,Continue reading “Thoughts on May Day”

I recently saw the following meme which closely expresses my point of view on economics and politics: I’m a fan of Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and consider them to be important voices in today’s political scene. Even though I mostly share their vision, I’m not comfortable with the label Democratic Socialist. IContinue reading “Social Democrat vs. Democratic Socialist”

As a thought experiment, I sometimes ask myself if I had a magic lamp, what advice might I give to myself as a young adult. I would say explore the world and find the country that is closest to your values, learn the language if necessary, and move there. Most likely, I would be anContinue reading “Ask the GINI”

I’m disappointed about the union vote at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse in Alabama. While it’s true that Amazon pays its workers $15 an hour and offers health benefits, the working conditions leave a lot to be desired. The rapid pace expected of the workers could result in unsafe working conditions and who wants to have toContinue reading “A Loss for Labor”

Back in 2013, a video that provided a visualization of wealth in America went viral. Imagine one hundred Americans standing on a football field, one yard apart from each other, arranged from poorest to richest. They represent income percentiles. Now visualize each person’s wealth as a stack of $100 bills. The stack starts out veryContinue reading “How Bad is Wealth Inequality?”

So you want to learn more about economic justice but don’t know where to start? Here are a couple of suggestions. The work of Robert Reich. He’s a little guy who looks out for the little guy and makes the principles of a just economy easy to understand. Check out his documentary Inequality for AllContinue reading “Economics for the Rest of Us 101”