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

Inequality Report Card: Grading Congress on Inequality

We evaluate how well members of congress do in supporting legislation and measures to narrow America’s widening economic divide.

The ‘Self-Made’ Hallucination of America’s Rich

Like Mitt Romney, most Americans who amass grand fortunes have a substantial head start.

Chicago and the Psychology of Teacher Bashing

In a deeply unequal society, the affluent will always sneer at public services and the men and women who provide them.

Virtually, Anything Goes with Online Education

State officials are allowing tax dollars to underwrite K-12 virtual disasters.

Who’s Really Winning the Smartphone Wars?

We’re letting top executives of giant corporations expropriate public “property” for private gain.

A Bold New Call for a ‘Maximum Wage’

A national labor leader aims to expand the economic fairness debate.

We’re All Subsidizing Free Lunches for America’s CEOs

It’s time to close the tax loopholes that subsidize runaway executive compensation.

The 64-Gazillion-Dollar Question

A top authority on poverty has changed his mind about the urgency of fighting inequality.

Grabbing Bigger Slices of Pie

New research shows that we shouldn’t swallow conservative claims about taxes.

Marching Toward Greater Inequality

The world’s super rich, according to a new report, are squirreling away phenomenal quantities of their cash in secret tax havens.

The Tea Party Shtick

Our founders wouldn’t be amused.

Behind Super-Sized Sodas, a Deeper Danger

If we really want to narrow our waistbands, we have to narrow the income gaps that divide us.

No Country for Rich Men

From Manhattan to Monaco, the world’s wealthiest people are disconnecting into a class of stateless transients.

A Rich Man’s Message to America: You Need Us To Get Even Richer!

How can you tell a really smart rich guy from a really silly one? The really smart one would never spend four years writing a book that tries to justify the incredible riches of incredibly rich people. Mega-millionaire Edward Conard has done just that.

Pothole Nation

We can thank inequality for America’s inadequate — and increasingly unsafe — basic infrastructure.

Happy Days Here Again, 21st Century-Style

Great economic cataclysms have in the past knocked the super rich off their stride. Our Great Recession’s deep pockets, stunning new income data show, are bucking the historical tide.

The Spirit Level: Inequality Coming to a Theater Near You

The landmark 2010 book by British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett gets a fresh new visual dimension.

Another Wealthy Executive Seeks To Dodge Prison

Last week, in a New York courtroom, memories of a forgotten tragedy edged back onto the public stage.

Should We All Start Praying for Mitt Romney?

Absolutely. The GOP Presidential hopeful from Bain Capital has become a walking, talking object lesson on how plutocracy works – and why we desperately need to end it.