Income Inequality

Banning Noncompete Agreements Benefits Low-Wage Workers

Examining the effects of a 2008 ban on noncompete agreements for low-wage workers in Oregon, a recent paper finds that the ban increased average...

The Lousy Job Economy: Young People Bear the Brunt of a Long-Term Decline in American Job Quality

A new study finds a steady decline in the quality of American jobs between 1979 to 2017, even as GDP has grown. This decline...

Fighting Poverty With Field Experiments: the Nobel Laureates' Revolution

As a student, Harvard Business School professor Vincent Pons decided to become an economist after a project in Morocco with Esther Duflo. The co-recipient...

Esther Duflo: How to Find the Right Questions

In this piece, originally published in 2011 by the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, Esther Duflo, co-recipient of...

Economics’ Lack of Interest in Gender Proves: the “Dismal Science” Really Is Dismal

Economists are still in the dark about the role of gender. For economics to be credible, we have to recognize that our knowledge is...

“Avoiding Plutocracy Would Require a Political Change”: Branko Milanovic on the Future of Capitalism

In an interview with ProMarket, CUNY Graduate Center economist Branko Milanovic discussed the differences and similarities between US-style and China-style capitalism and explained why,...

How a Simple Tweak to a Federal Form Could Help Borrowers Potentially Avoid Defaulting on Student Loans

A federal program seeks to help borrowers avoid defaulting on their student loans through income-based repayment plans, but many eligible borrowers do not enroll....

With the US and China, Two Types of Capitalism Are Competing With Each Other

Capitalism’s global victory has been achieved through two different types of capitalist systems: the liberal meritocratic capitalism that has developed incrementally in the West,...

The Surprising Twist in GOP Economic Thinking: Tax Cuts Might Be Bad for Business

Senator Mitt Romney wrote Donald Trump a letter to stop his plan to reduce capital gain taxes. This is an important signal that a...

The Secret Code of Capital and the Origin of Wealth Inequality

Capital is not a thing, but a social relation enforced by the law and the state. With the right legal coding, any object, claim,...

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