Veteran labor journalist and Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow Sam Pizzigati co-edits Inequality.org, the Institute’s weekly newsletter on our great divides. He also contributes a regular column to OtherWords, the IPS national nonprofit editorial service.

Sam, now retired from the labor movement, spent two decades directing the publishing program at America’s largest union, the 2.8-million-member National Education Association, and before that edited the national publications of three other U.S. trade unions.

Sam’s own writing has revolved around economic inequality since the early 1990s. His op-eds on income and wealth concentration have appeared in periodicals all around the world, from the New York Times to Le Monde Diplomatique.

Sam has authored four books and co-edited two others. His 2004 book, Greed and Good: Understanding the Inequality that Limits Our Lives, won an “outstanding title” honor from the American Library Association’s book review journal. His 2012 title, The Rich Don’t Always Win: The Forgotten Triumph over Plutocracy that Created the American Middle Class, 1900-1970, explores how average Americans ended the nation’s original Gilded Age. Sam’s most recent book, The Case for a Maximum Wage, offers a politically plausible path toward ending that Gilded Age’s second coming.

Latest

A Telling Tale of Two Press Lords

Rupert Murdoch made the world safe for grand fortune. E.W. Scripps had a better idea.

America’s Auto Workers: On Strike Against Inequality. Again.

UAW activists years ago helped usher in a vastly more equal society. Can history repeat?

The Tie That Truly Binds Grand Fortune and Great Talent

Our world’s richest are increasingly monopolizing the smarts of our smartest.

Which Nation Has Taxed the Rich the Most?

Britain and the United States once competed for that honor. Times have changed.

New Stats, Old Story: Our Rich Are Raking

From Swiss bank researchers, an alarming update on our global maldistribution of wealth

The Tesla Take on ‘Sharing’ the Wealth

Detroit’s automakers are lusting after the massive executive rewards in the Musk corporate empire

Have Our Corporate Chiefs Become Expendable?

Analysts across the political spectrum are challenging more than oversized CEO paychecks

Can We Measure Inequality Without Tallying the Wealth of Our Wealthy?

Hundreds of prestigious economists don’t think so. The World Bank, unfortunately, does.

The Most Ludicrous Argument Ever Against Taxing the Rich?

Why are our planet’s finest hoopsters bricking free throws? Pals of plutocrats have a convenient explanation.

A Good Year’s Pay for a Good Day’s Work?

A Good Year’s Pay for a Good Day’s Work?

Protecting Our ‘Opportunity’ to Remain Plutocratic

The Supreme Court is erasing our shared responsibility for educating each and every child.

Getting Past Stars and Swipes Forever

In 1776, public-spirited patriots emerged from the ranks of America’s most privileged. Today’s richest offer up precious little of that public spirit. Why?

In This Washington, the Fantastically Rich Are Finally Frowning

A new state tax on the wheeling and dealing of the wealthy is reaping far more revenue than expected

Could We Actually End the CEO Defense Contractor Gravy Train?

FDR put the kibosh on military contractor windfalls during World War II. We could do the same.

Garbage In, Garbage CEO Windfalls Out

‘Waste management’ won’t help us confront climate change so long as corporate self-interest rules

The Two Decades That Created Our World’s First Mass Middle Class

If we take on our rich, we can recreate that success.

To Protect Our Children, Let’s Tax Our Rich

A century-old political lesson from the first grand champion of America’s kids.

Can Auto Industry Execs Give Us a Climate-Safe Planet?

Not if they keep chasing after jaw-dropping personal fortunes.

We Must Not Dance, Harry Belafonte Understood, to a Billionaire Beat

This epochal artist helped us see that justice for all requires a just distribution of wealth.