Don’t Tax Carbon—Just Stop Digging It Up

Aug 19, 2019

Owen argues that a carbon tax and dividend could cut carbon emissions while contributing to the general welfare, but the model is deeply flawed. Indeed, any carbon tax—whether the revenue is redistributed as dividend or not—would be both ineffective and regressive. We...

How To Build the Zero-Carbon Economy

Apr 22, 2019

THE ANISHINAABE PEOPLE HAVE A PROPHECY that a time will come when we have to choose between two paths: one scorched, one green. For those who choose the green path, a more peaceful era will follow—known as the Eighth Fire—in which the Anishinaabeg will return to our...

Young Black Feminists Have Some Pointers for Obama

Mar 7, 2019

Barack Obama didn’t break any new ground when, at last month’s national gathering of the “My Brother’s Keeper Alliance” in Oakland, California, he cracked jokes about the self-defeating qualities of a certain type of young black man. Addressing this...

A Tax the Rich Can’t Avoid

Jan 24, 2019

Can’t we just raise the income tax? As bad as income inequality is in the U.S., wealth inequality is worse. The top 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. Three families with multigenerational wealth—the Waltons, the Kochs and the Marses—have a...

Voters Overwhelmingly Choose To Raise Wages in Two Red States

Nov 7, 2018

On Tuesday, Arkansas voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 5, a ballot measure that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8.50 to $11 by 2021. The vote is expected to raise wages for some 300,000 workers throughout the state. The measure received a staggering 68...

Trump’s Threat To Trade Could Be An Opportunity for Progressives

Nov 23, 2016

The one election issue tying together populist voices on the right and left was trade—or so it seemed. Donald Trump’s upset win, fueled in part by Rust Belt rage against free trade deals and globalization, could hand liberals an unexpected opportunity to push a fairer...