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

Biden’s Debt Cancellation Plan Is a Step Forward on the Racial Wealth Divide

Black students have had to take out larger loans and faced greater difficulty paying them back than other borrowers.

Biden’s Inflation Bill Is (Mostly) Good News for People and the Planet

But it needs to be a first step, not the last.

The Huge Pay Gaps at Low-Wage Federal Contractors

New federal contracting standards could incentivize corporations to narrow the economic divides that undermine employee morale and business effectiveness.

The Green New Deal Goes Local

The Biden administration will be spending hundreds of billions of dollars on addressing the climate crisis. But what does that mean for communities around the United States?

Dismantling the Lucky Sperm Club, One Baby Bond Program at a Time

Cities and states are experimenting with trust fund accounts to narrow the racial wealth divide.

Congress Takes Historic Step to Tax Stock Buybacks

This provision of the Inflation Reduction Act will discourage corporations from siphoning resources from worker wages and productive investments for share repurchases that inflate CEO pay.

Baseball Immortality Meets Ungodly Inequality

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

A Proposed Wealth Tax on Colombia’s 4,700+ Richest Would Raise $1 Billion

An Institute for Policy Studies analysis of the progressive tax proposed by incoming Colombian President Gustavo Petro would impact a small percentage of the nation’s wealthiest while raising millions to address widening inequality.

The Great Migration Failed to Bridge the Racial Wealth Divide. What’s Next?

Real and lasting economic opportunities for Black families will come only through a serious national reckoning on race.

The Rise of the Monster DAFs

Rising like monsters from the deep, donor-advised funds (DAFs) have finally caught up with foundations as the wealthy donor’s charitable warehousing vehicle of choice — and are poised to eclipse them.

Black Worker Initiative

Criminalization of Race and Poverty

Drug Policy

Global Economy

Inequality.org

Program on Inequality and the Common Good

National Priorities Project

Economic Hardship Reporting Project

Reports

An image of the cover of this report, where an illustrated plane gives off exhaust. In the exhaust fumes reads "Hanscom High Flyers: Private Jet Excess doesn't Justify Expansion"

REPORT: Hanscom High Flyers

Chuck Collins, Kalena Thomhave, Omar Ocampo, Jiajin Wu | October 1, 2023

Private jet travel is a monumental example of private excess at public expense. Here’s a local case study.

REPORT: Executive Excess 2023

Sarah Anderson | August 24, 2023

These “Low Wage 100” large corporations are enriching CEOs at the expense of both workers and taxpayers.

REPORT: Still A Dream: Over 500 Years to Black Economic Equality

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo, Sally Sim | August 16, 2023

60 years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the racial wealth divide persists.

REPORT: A Tale of Two Retirements 2023

Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger | May 17, 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

Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo, Kalena Thomhave | May 1, 2023

In this report, we assess the environmental, economic, and security risks of private jet travel — and lay out tax reforms to offset them.

people holding signs that say make billionaires pay

Report: “Extreme Wealth: The growing number of people with extreme wealth and what an annual wealth tax could raise”

Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo | January 17, 2023

An annual wealth tax on the world’s richest could raise $1.7 trillion globally.

REPORT: Homecoming: The Greater Birmingham Community Speaks on Regional Cooperation and a More Inclusive Economy

Marc Bayard, Allan M. Freyer, Ph.D., Robyn Hyden | November 17, 2022

Greater Birmingham, AL, has experienced a resurgence in economic growth and civic engagement. Yet the benefits of this prosperity are not widely shared.

Report: Gilded Giving 2022

Chuck Collins, Helen Flannery | July 19, 2022

Our nation’s charitable system is in danger of becoming a taxpayer-subsidized platform of private power for the ultra-wealthy.

lower half of a Black woman's face in purple silhouette with black background

The Other Side of the Storm

Kimberly Freeman Brown, Marc Bayard | June 21, 2022

What Do Black Immigrant Domestic Workers in the Time of Covid-19 Teach Us About Building a Resilient Care Infrastructure?

Bay State Billionaires

Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo | June 9, 2022

Massachusetts billionaires' wealth surges 46 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Excess 2022

Sarah Anderson, Sam Pizzigati, Brian Wakamo | June 7, 2022

The CEOs at America’s largest low-wage employers are grabbing huge raises while workers and consumers struggle with rising costs.

Report: Taxing the World’s Richest Would Raise $2.52 Trillion a Year

Chuck Collins | January 18, 2022

A new joint report from Fight Inequality Alliance, Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam, and Patriotic Millionaires details what can be funded by simply taxing the rich.