Plutocracy

By Matt McConnell | Researcher, Economic Justice and Rights Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – New survey data released recently by the United States Census Bureau found that housing payments for about half of all US renters were unaffordable in 2021 under guidelines set by the US Department of Housing and Urban […]

Drugs

Big Pharma spent more on Stock Buybacks and Dividends than on Research and Development even during COVID

F. Douglas Stephenson

Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment) – The 14 largest publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies spent $747 billion on stock buybacks and dividends from 2012 through 2021 — substantially more than the $660 billion they spent on research and development. So argue economists William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts, and Öner Tulum, a […]

Corporations

Southwest’s Meltdown: Stock Buybacks, High Exec Pay, and Neglected Software Upgrades

Sam Pizzigati

() Inequality.org) – For America’s rich and powerful, the new year is beginning in a most inauspicious fashion. Millions of Americans are once again fuming at the greed and grasping of our deepest pockets. That fuming — from would-be passengers of Southwest Airlines and their families — filled airports throughout this past holiday week. For […]

Debt

Is the Russian Economy headed for Collapse?

The Conversation

By Eric Werker, Simon Fraser University | – (The Conversation) – To justify invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has painted Russia as a hegemonic power re-asserting its rightful claim to imperial greatness. Yet even before the invasion, Russia’s economic capabilities were hardly capable of sustaining an empire. Now, with foreign sanctions presiding over a plummeting Russian […]

Climate Crisis

Secret Files reveal how UN Climate Advisers ‘greenwashed’ for BP

Open Democracy

By Lucas Amin and Ben Webster | – ( OpenDemocracy.net) – The PR firm advising the UN on climate change campaigns has been accused by US lawmakers of helping BP “greenwash” its fossil fuel investments, openDemocracy can reveal. Internal BP documents released to the US House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee and published last […]

Inequality

The Top 10 Inequality Victories of 2022

Inequality.org

By Sarah Anderson | Inegality.org | – Congratulations to everyone who worked to move the country and the world towards greater equity in 2022. Herewith are 10 of the most inspiring economic inequality victories of the year. 1. The Union Boom No question. The union organizing surge has been this year’s top story. Petitions for […]

Corporations

Congress Has No Business Shoveling Another $847 Billion Into the Military Industrial Complex

OtherWords

By Lindsay Koshgarian | – ( Otherwords.org ) – Can you imagine the audacity to fail a multi-trillion dollar audit of public funds, and then ask for even more of those taxpayer dollars? Pentagon leaders just did exactly that. This month news broke that the agency once again failed to pass a basic audit showing […]

Carbon Footprint

G20 still paying Billions in Fossil Fuel Subsidies

China Dialogue

By Catherine Early | – ( China Dialogue) – The Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of 19 countries and the European Union. These include most of the world’s largest economies, including those of many developing nations, and together account for over 80% of world GDP. Subsidies to the sector had fallen to $147bn […]

Inequality

We Can’t Afford NOT to Have a Wealth Tax

Inequality.org

By Jack Metzgar | – ( Inequality.org) – Every time I hear that we as a nation cannot afford something — whether that might be assuring non-toxic water in Jackson and Flint or universal pre-K or an industrial policy with teeth — I have wondered how many dollars a national wealth tax might yield. So […]