Income Inequality

Third and State This Week: Americans Living on $2 a Day, Mayors Talk Federal Deficit and Youth Unemployment

This week at Third and State, we blogged about the increasing number of children and families living in extreme poverty, the latest on the state revenue picture, Pennsylvania mayors on a federal deficit deal and the long-term effects of youth unemployment.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

  • On poverty, Jamar Thrasher wrote about a report on the increasing number of children and families living in extreme poverty, defined as surviving on $2 or less per day.
  • On federal budget and taxes, Chris Lilienthal blogged about a message from the mayors of Philadelphia, Allentown, York, and Reading to members of Congress as they craft a deficit reduction plan.
  • On the state budget, Michael Wood wrote about November state revenue collections and the threat new business tax cuts pose to the state's ability to invest in the fundamentals that ensure long-term growth.
  • And on jobs and unemployment, Jamar Thrasher blogged about a study showing the long-lasting damage a recession can have on young people unable to find their first job.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

More Americans Scraping by on $2 a Day

Posted by Jamar Thrasher on December 14, 2012 4:20 pm
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A study by the University of Michigan's National Poverty Center reports that more people are barely making ends meet in an era of too few jobs and a tattered safety net. According to the researchers, 1.4 million American households are living in "extreme poverty."

Third and State This Week: Listen to Main Street, Tax Cuts Drive State Funding Gap and More on Federal Fiscal Debate

This week at Third and State, we blogged about how corporate tax cuts are contributing to a gap between state expenditures and revenues, an effort to get real small business voices heard in the federal fiscal debate, corporate tax subsidies run amok in the states, a fiscal cliff primer from Springfield's favorite CEO, C. Montgomery Burns, and more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

  • In response to the state's midyear budget briefing, Sharon Ward shared an infographic showing how unaffordable state business tax cuts are driving a gap between expenditures and revenues in the next budget.
  • On tax subsidies, Mark Price blogged about a New York Times report detailing the tax breaks and credits provided by state and local governments to businesses.
  • On federal taxes, Chris Lilienthal wrote about the Main Street Alliance's efforts to get real small business voices heard in the federal fiscal debate. Mark Price wrote about the different priorities of Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators in addressing federal deficit reduction.
  • On the state budget and other policies, Mark Price blogged about editorial page assessments of Governor Tom Corbett's administration midway through his first term.
  • Finally, we had a Friday Funny featuring Mr. Burns of The Simpsons explaining the fiscal cliff.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Morning Must Reads: Different Priorities For Different Senators

Proposals to avert the fiscal cliff shouldn't increase poverty or inequality or slow the economic recovery. Those simple common-sense principles appear to be gaining increasing visibility and support, which is the best news this morning.

Morning Must Reads: Corporate Tax Subsidies Run Amok and Fiscal Cliff Armageddon!

Dirty HippieI'm back, and that is completely unrelated to the fact that the blog in my absence featured people with bad wigs.

On Sunday, The New York Times launched the series The United States of Subsidies, which details the tax breaks and credits given out by state and local governments to businesses. Below you will find a link to the opening story, today's entry on Texas and finally a link to Pennsylvania data.

Morning Must Reads: One Bidder? What Could Go Wrong?

The Keystone Research Center does not oppose the use of private contractors to provide services to federal, state and local governments as a matter of philosophy.

On pragmatic grounds, we DO support good governance, including carefully assessing the costs and benefits of privatization. Too often privatization is a goal in and of itself and good governance — careful weighing of pros and cons — isn't even in the vocabulary of privatization advocates.

Pulling Apart: Income Inequality Has Grown in PA

Posted by Christopher Lilienthal on November 15, 2012 2:08 pm
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Income inequality has grown in all parts of the country since the late 1970s, and Pennsylvania has not been immune to the trend, as a new national study out today shows.

A joint effort of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, the study finds that income gaps widened in Pennsylvania between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, with earnings for low-income families dropping as the income of the wealthiest continued to rise.

Third and State This Week: Pensions Debate, Voter Suppression Laws and Dissecting September Jobs Numbers

Posted by Third and State on October 27, 2012 9:38 am
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This week at Third and State, we took a closer look at the latest Pennsylvania jobs numbers and blogged about the prevalence of voter suppression proposals across the U.S., the wage gap between men and women college graduates, and highlights from a debate in Bucks County over public pensions.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

  • On jobs and the economy, Mark Price wrote that for the first time since the start of the Great Recession, unemployment in Pennsylvania moved above the U.S. jobless rate in September. Mark also blogged about a "tsunami of jobs" in Pennsylvania last month and explained how there are two surveys (one of households and the other of employers) used to track employment trends.
  • On voter suppression, Jamar Thrasher blogged about more than 180 voter suppression laws proposed nationwide between 2011 and 2012.
  • On income inequality, Jamar Thrasher wrote about a study finding that women college graduates are paid only 82% of what men earn a year after graduation.
  • On public pensions, Chris Lilienthal highlighted a recent debate on the issue where Stephen Herzenberg of the Keystone Research Center made the point that teachers and other public-sector workers should not be punished for decisions made in Harrisburg that have led to the current pension funding challenges.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

A Pensions Debate in Bucks County

Posted by Christopher Lilienthal on October 26, 2012 1:14 pm
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Stephen Herzenberg of the Keystone Research Center squared off with Rick Dreyfuss of the Commonwealth Foundation Thursday night on the topic of public employee pensions. As the Bucks County Intelligencer wrote, the audience at the pensions forum in Doylestown was solidly on Steve's side.

Study Finds College-educated Women Face Income Inequality Early in Careers

Posted by Jamar Thrasher on October 25, 2012 1:36 pm
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The American Association of University Women is out with a study finding that college-educated women are earning only 82% of what men are paid a year after graduation. The report controlled for various factors that affect earnings, such as occupations, majors and hours worked, to ensure the study made a true apples-to-apples comparison.

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