Executive action to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt would increase Black wealth by 40 percent.
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Economic Justice
Combating inequality means both lifting up and building power at the bottom, and breaking up concentration of wealth and power at the top. That’s why we work at the intersection of economic and racial justice through projects designed to build leadership and self-empowerment of black workers, immigrant workers, and low-wage workers, youth and families affected by incarceration, along with projects aiming to reverse the rules that criminalize poor people of color, and projects fighting to ensure that the wealthy and Wall Street corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Latest Work
New Data Tells Us Where Donor-Advised Fund Dollars Go—And Don’t Go
A new research database reveals that many donor-advised fund donations take years to make it to the coffers of operating nonprofits.
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From France, an Unexpected Call for a Ceiling on CEO Pay
Our modern societies, top French politicos fear, just might ‘explode’ without one.
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A Historic Deal for Union Doormen
After servicing New York City’s wealthiest throughout the pandemic, 32,000 residential workers refused to accept a regressive new contract.
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Crypto Is a Risky Bet for Black Americans
There are better ways to close the racial wealth gap while giving a leg up to Americans of every color.
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Auto Workers, Climate Groups Team Up to Demand Union-Made, Electric Postal Vehicles
The United Auto Workers and climate groups join together to push the USPS to buy electric postal vehicles to replace their old, gas-guzzling fleet.
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An Oligarchy Expert Answers Our Questions About Wealth and Empowerment
Northwestern professor Jeffrey Winters says he knows how to get billionaires to jump off the Forbes list of richest Americans.
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Still Another Reason for Taxing the Rich
America’s wealthiest, new ProPublica data suggest, may be even richer than we thought.
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A Pandemic of the Poor
As we approach 1 million COVID-19 deaths, Americans in poorer counties have died at double the rate of wealthier counties.
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Elon Musk Is Hiding the Ball Again on Taxes
Fanboys of the richest person on Earth are spinning bogus tales that swell the Musk fortune and embellish his ‘genius.’
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Reports
REPORT: The Warfare State: How Funding for Militarism Compromises Our Welfare
Nearly two-thirds of the federal discretionary budget goes to militarized federal programs, leaving just over a third for our communities — a sliver some lawmakers want to cut even further.
REPORT: A Tale of Two Retirements 2023
Our tax code helps CEOs retire in luxury while ordinary workers struggle. Here’s how to fix it.
Report: High Flyers 2023: How Ultra-Rich Private Jet Travel Costs the Rest of Us and Burns Up the Planet
In this report, we assess the environmental, economic, and security risks of private jet travel — and lay out tax reforms to offset them.
Tax Day 2023: Where Your 2022 Tax Dollars Went
IPS’s National Priorities Project takes a look at where American taxpayers’ money went in 2022, and how skewed our national priorities are.
Wall Street Bonuses Decline But Still Dwarf Worker Pay Increases Since 2008 Crash
Since 2008, the average Wall Street bonus has climbed by more than 75 percent, compared to just a 54 percent increase in average earnings of all private sector workers and a 42 percent rise in manufacturing wages. If the minimum wage had increased as much as Wall Street bonuses since 1985, it would be worth $42.37 today.