How Tax Policy Created the 1%
From the 1920s to today, American tax policy has evolved to reflect one principle—the investor comes first—with disastrous implications for the rest of us.
Winter 2026
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Belabored Podcast #124: College Dreams and College Schemes, with Tressie McMillan Cottom
Tressie McMillan Cottom talks about her new book, Lower Ed, and why the expansion of the for-profit college industry is a labor issue.
Booked: Capitalizing on Rural Resentment, with Katherine J. Cramer
Katherine J. Cramer talks about her new book, The Politics of Resentment, and how the right exploits rural-urban divides to promote a populist image.
An Economist’s Case for Open Borders
Amid today’s xenophobic tide, economist Branko Milanovic has made a controversial case for opening the borders—but without offering migrants full rights as citizens. Would such an arrangement reduce inequality, or only exacerbate the problems that have brought us to this point?
Unequal Pay, Unequal Work 
Ruth Milkman’s Gender, Labor, and Inequality is a story of halting progress for women in the workforce, a march punctuated by setbacks, false starts, and abandonment by purported allies.
The Triumph of the 1%
A new study by Thomas Piketty and his colleagues shows that American inequality continues to rise, with no sign of abating.
Liberté, Egalité, Féminisme?
A new generation of minority and Muslim women are taking the lead in the fight against racial profiling, police brutality, mass incarceration, and a general crackdown on civil liberties in France.
Red Lines, Black Lives
A new digital archive reveals the extent of the federal government’s role in fueling and enforcing midcentury housing discrimination.
An Acceptance Speech for Hillary
Does our country face any problem that is more important or far-reaching than America’s growing economic divide? I think we know in our bones that it doesn’t.
Unnatural Disaster: After the Chennai Floods
Last December’s floods in Chennai illustrated the devastating consequences of a development model that puts profits before people. But they also hinted at what a democratic response to climate disaster might look like.
The Right vs. The Family
Despite the right’s appeals to “family values,” free-market policies are extremely destructive to American families.
8 Thoughts on Bernie Sanders’s Democratic Socialism and the Primary
What was missing from Bernie Sanders’s democratic socialism speech and policy agenda is just as interesting as what was included.
Breaking the Racial Contract
The crisis that deepened the chasm between the one percent and the rest also offers an opportunity to build a new, transracial coalition of the disadvantaged.
Why Free College Is Necessary
Higher education can’t solve inequality, but the debate about free college tuition does something extremely valuable. It reintroduces the concept of public good to education discourse.
Back to Class
It is time to think about class. The insurgencies we most need today are the insurgencies of large numbers.
