Restoring the American Dream
What will it take to fix the nation's economic problems? Co-authors Barlett and Steele offer solutions, including limiting subsidized imports and insisting that foreign nations lower their barriers to...
View ArticlePoverty rates unchanged
Income is down and inequality is up, but the details are more nuanced and include the point that the poverty rate is flat.
View ArticleThe view from the ground: Seeds of recovery
Hundreds of letters poured into the offices of The Philadelphia Inquirer in response to the gripping story of economic woes told in the original America: What Went Wrong? series by Donald Barlett and...
View ArticleMississippi still poorest state
Another Census report released Thursday shows Mississippi again is the poorest state in the country, but 21 other states and the District of Columbia report poverty rates above the national average.
View ArticleHome health-care workers still fighting for higher wages, better benefits
Demand for home health-care workers is growing. But low wages and lack of benefits — including health care — contribute to the struggle many in the industry continue to face.
View ArticleA new company takes over, a new reality sets in
In the years since a private-equity firm took over Momentive, workers have seen contract fights, safety problems and slashed wages. This is the new face of stability in the American workplace.
View ArticleSafety concerns add to stress
Workers at Momentive Performance Materials have what thousands of unemployed Americans want most: jobs that pay a decent wage.
View ArticleDepression-era program struggles to fill post-recession needs
A little investment in a decades-old government program could help in the fight to get Americans back to work. This is a look at the U.S. Employment Service, a proactive response to high unemployment.
View ArticleColleges: A different route to the factory
The United States has lost a third of its manufacturing jobs as companies seek to save costs and produce elsewhere. But a Brookings report argues the nation could excel again in manufacturing by...
View Article1 in 3 now families now 'working poor'
“We like to think that people are poor in American because they don’t work,” said Brandon Roberts, manager of the Working Poor Families Project. But, he added, "Even though you are working, you have an...
View ArticleCourts explore new ways to deal with heavy caseloads, overflowing jails
There is growing recognition that the current system of impossible caseloads, over-criminalized rule books and overflowing prisons is incredibly expensive, unsustainable — and avoidable. Legislatures...
View ArticleTaxes, trade, public policy: Will the playing field ever be level?
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele's 2012 book, "The Betrayal of the American Dream," chronicles how four decades of public policy shaped America's ongoing economic crisis. The New York Times...
View ArticleEconomic impact of crime ripples through families
Lawyers often see the criminal and civil courts as two separate entities, but for people caught up in the legal system, the problems often bleed from one arena into the other. Having a bad lawyer, or...
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