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

The Lesson We Need to Teach Our Nation’s Rich

We will not let your wealth come at the expense of our children’s future.

Can Our ‘Labs of Democracy’ Once Again Deliver?

In the near future, our states will have to determine whether we truly tax the rich.

Must Larceny Always Overpower Honesty?

In deeply unequal societies, the thieving always thrive.

A ‘Down’ Year for Our Deepest Pockets?

Billionaire fortunes have shriveled a bit over the past year. Billionaire power hasn’t.

Oxfam Wants To More than Double the Tax Rate on Our Richest

That bold a hike, our U.S. history suggests, can actually happen.

Inside Southwest’s Horrific Holidays

Blame the wealthy, not the weather.

Can We Talk Sensibly about Inequality and Ignore the Rich?

Not if we want to see a safe, decent, and sustainable future, say UN researchers

An Invulnerable Financial Fortress on the Sand

Qatar has our world’s attention, but nearby — and deeply unequal — Dubai might be charting our future

Tax the Rich? We Did That Once

A little history might just inspire us to try that taxing again.

Inequality Kills. But We Can Stop the Killing.

So argues a gripping new book from an activist physician who’s helped divine the keys to long and healthy life.

Elon Musk May Not Be So Brilliant After All

As Twitter implodes under Musk’s rule, a lawsuit argues Tesla is vastly overpaying the world’s richest man.

Italy’s Far Right Rode Inequality to Victory — But Has No Answers for It

A let-the-rich-be government has opened the doors to the smiling heirs of Italy’s neofascist factions.

A Voice at the United Nations the World Needs to Hear

The UN’s secretary-general is speaking truth – about inequality — to our world’s leaders.

Can’t Beat the Heat? Blame Inequality

Why poor neighborhoods are often hotter than rich neighborhoods — and what to do about it.

The First Billionaire To Become UK’s King

We expected Charles to get the crown. We didn’t expect him to make a billion-dollar fortune first.

Baseball Immortality Meets Ungodly Inequality

Superstar Juan Soto gets a new team. His fans get heartbreak. His owners get richer.

From the Wall Street Journal: A Deeply Flawed CEO Pay Analysis

The paper’s ‘corporate effectiveness’ lens mischaracterizes the views of management visionary Peter Drucker on pay equity and employee empowerment.

Janet Yellen’s Noble Effort Comes to Naught

To end the tax games rich people play, we need more oomph than isolated officials can deliver.

Does the Future Belong to People Who Profit Off Our ‘Excessive Wealth Disorder’?

A promising new national campaign is aiming to ‘TURN’ around a profoundly unequal USA.

Tax the Rich, House the Homeless

In L.A., 1 percenters currently pay less than a 1 percent city tax on the mansions they make millions selling.