October, 2023—Politicians and activists have for more than a decade been brandishing Census figures showing the women make 70-some cents to each dollar a man makes, with the typical implication that employers are routinely, and on a wholesale basis, paying women employees less salary for the same work. The extensive investigations of Harvard professor Dr. Claudia Goldin, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, reveal that the reasons for gender wage discrepancy are far more complicated than that. In an interview with Harvard Magazine, Professor Goldin shares her insights.

Average rents increased 18% between 2017 and 2022 with no let-up in sight. The Governing article looks at efforts by state governments and advocacy groups to keep American workers in homes they can afford.

The lack of affordable housing is a problem besetting every major urban area in the U.S. This article from Governing looks at California's multi-pronged approach to the problem.

A look at how a coordinated approach involving government and non-profits effected a steep reduction in homelessness in America's fourth largest city.

Key to any discussion of living wages and the social safety net (embracing such programs as the Earned Income Tax Credit, minimum wage laws, social security or child care subsidies) is a knowledge of how much money a person or family needs to maintain an acceptable standard of living. The Economic Policy Institute has issued an updated version of their wonderful tool for gaining insight into this critical question. The Cost-of-Living calculator will tell you how much income is needed to support anywhere from a single person to a family of 6, in any city or county in the country. Two major take-aways will occur to anyone who spends some time with the calculator: (1) the cost of living varies tremendously between different areas (mainly rural vs urban) and (2) in urban areas, current minimum wage laws and the EITC fall far short of providing a basic living for workers at the low end of the wage spectrum.

It may seem axiomatic that so-called "right to work" laws (union leaders like to call them "right to work for less" laws) would be bad for both workers and for the party that chiefly champions workers' concerns—Democrats. After all, the driving force behind these laws is the disempowerment of non-management labor. Now we have proof, in a study conducted by Boston and Columbia universities and the Brookings Institute, that when states pass "right to work" (for less) laws, Democratic voting share diminishes, as do the number of elected officials hailing from working-class backgrounds. Unions are a foundation of any working social democracy: those of us who want a fairer, saner, and more compassionate society must stand unequivocably for the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

In this thoughtful op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune, former education secretary Arne Duncan (2009-2015) argues that the challenges of all Americans who are economically, socially and politically marginalized, whether they live in inner-city neighborhoods or in the nation's rural hinterland, share a common interest in a strong social democratic program built on educational opportunity, decent jobs at living wages, affordable housing and universal healthcare.

A new study by Standford biologists concludes that the sixth mass extinction of life on planet earh—and the first caused entirely by the activities of homo sapiens—is now upon us. Unless drastic measures are soon taken, the scientists warn, the next century will witness the loss of thousands of species.

Just how lopsided is the American economy? This L.A. Times column helps answer the question with one simple factoid. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investment manager Warren Buffet own more wealth, between the three of them, than the least well-off 160 million Americans combined. (The wealth of Jeff Bezos increased $10 billion in the month of October alone.) The Social Democrat can conceive of no justification, whether pragmatic or in justice, for any individual to monopolize such astonishing proportions of our nation's economic production—or anything close to it. New structures of wages, taxes and ownership rights must be established to make the nation's economy work for all citizens.

Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin takes to the editorial pages of the New York Times to make a case for a federal jobs program—a cause close the heart of The Social Democrat (see here) and a key plank of any serious social democratic platform. With everything from globalization to technological change to shifting demographics creating continual churn in the employment picture, American workers need mechanisms such as those promoted by Rubin to insure inclusion in the nation's economic life.

This inspiring Quartz piece by Rebecca Schuman, whose memoir Schadenfreude, A Love Story made a big splash early this year, looks at how social democracy has created a culture of enjoying life, rather than striving to out-earn the proverbial Joneses, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Economists all agree that at some point, borrowing by the federal government will create inflation and impede productivity and growth. Recent research finds, however, that the level at which government borrowing becomes problematic is certainly greater than what was once thought. With U.S. debt at near-record levels, and the tax plan being pushed by the Trump administration and its congressional allies likely to add more red ink to America's balance sheet, the question is more than academic. This New York Times piece looks at current thinking on the topic. (October 2018)

Portugal, the land of Fado music, cork orchards and Port wine, brings another gift to civilization: a way out of the insane drug war which has wracked our civilization, wasting untold billions on a quixotic quest to prevent people from using intoxicants, funding murderous drug gangs and incarcerating millions of especially minority Americans. Portugal, which removed criminal penalties for all drugs in 2001, including cocaine and heroine, has lower rates of addiction and 1/50 the number of drug-related deaths as the United States. Portugal's addiction-intervention efforts cost the state less than $10 per person, while the U.S. drug war costs our nation $10,000 per household. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff visted the sunny nation on the edge of Europe to see how they're doing it.

From the New York Times, a highly useful look at how other nations provide universal healthcare to their citizens at significantly less cost than America's jury-rigged system. This article compares the sytems of several healthcare leaders, and a panel of expert judges offers its preferences. If we are to progress, the U.S. must get over the idea that it always knows best and begin to look at best practices from other nations.

Median incomes are up for two consecutive years and unemployment down as the Obama recovery brings more jobs, higher wages and better health insurance coverage. But economic trends going back 50 years still thwart the efforts of many to achieve secure middle-class livelihoods. This New York Times piece by Patricia Cohen examines the issues.