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
Bring Back May Day
The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world that doesn’t mark International Worker’s Day. So how are our workers doing?
Read more
The Economy is Thriving. Are You?
Trumpeting rising GDP and disposable income ignores harsh economic realities for working class people.
Read more
Justice is Global
A new movement is building towards an economy centered on global solidarity, rather than an international race to the bottom.
Read more
How to Shrink the Wealth Gap for Minorities and Everyone Else While We Study Reparations
Reparations need to be part of this discussion, but we should also look at policies that would turn around our regressive economy for all Americans.
Read more
America’s Wealthy Want to Silence the Income Inequality Discussion
The richest among us are preaching the ‘opportunity’ gospel. Don’t fall for it.
Read more
Q+A with Lindsay Koshgarian on the US’ Abhorrent Military Budget
The United States is spending $750 billion on its war machine. That money should be going to food, education, health care, and shelter for working people.
Read more
The Roots of Economic Inequality and the Racial Wealth Divide
Inequality in the U.S. can be reversed, in part, through intentional social programs and tax reform.
Read more
Gentrification Now Has More than Landlubbers Worried
Deep pockets have displaced modest-income people from plenty of prime urban terra firma. Could our offshore be next?
Read more
Stop & Shop Workers End 11-Day Strike With a Tentative Agreement
Striking workers won backing from every corner of their community, from local rabbis preparing for Passover to placard-carrying toddlers.
Read moreIPS Projects
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.