Wall Street’s Protection Racket: Still Rolling

To really reform big bank behavior, we need to scuttle the pay system that ‘entitles’ Wall Streeters to however much loot they can grab. Read more . . .

Why Health Care Matters Less than We Think

The British already have universal health care. So why do average life expectancies in the UK vary so dramatically by neighborhood? A new UK blue-ribbon commission has some answers to questions that Americans ought to be asking.

Must the Rich Rock On Forever?

Economists tend to add more to the aggravations of everyday life than explain them. Not this economist. A review of Economics for the Rest of Us: Debunking the Science that Makes Life Dismal by Moshe Adler.

A Rich University's Mad Dash to Get Richer

<p>Investing recklessness at Harvard is making ‘the best and the brightest’ look awfully silly &#8212; almost as silly as a nation that lets staggering quantities of wealth continue to concentrate.</p>

The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Us Stronger

By every measure that matters,  relatively equal nations far outperform  nations where income and wealth concentrate at the top. This powerful new book explores these contrasts — and explains them.

The Great Recession’s Phony New ‘Silver Lining’

Hard times, a rash of new media reports now assures us, are significantly narrowing the gap between the rich and everybody else. So why are so many super rich still smiling?

Of Flat Tax, Fat Tax, and ‘Fat Cats’

A health care reform surtax on the rich makes great budget sense — and even more sense, over the long haul, for our actual health.

Beyond Kyoto: Time to Switch Targets?

To curb climate change, suggests a new report from a top-notch global scientific team, we really ought to start focusing on rich people, not rich nations.

Budget Cuts and IOUs: What’s Squeezing States?

The Great Recession has shoved state governments over the fiscal edge. But what brought states to that edge in the first place?

Remembering When Citigroup ‘Cared’ about Inequality

Citi analysts spent two years obsessing over luxury consumption by the rich. Last week, the ultimate symbol of that consumption — the fine art bubble — finally popped.