Portside

Bill Gates' critique of Thomas Piketty is revealing for what it overlooks

Are there (short term) political alternatives to the wealth tax to limit or reverse inequality?

Investment of public money needs transparency and accountability. The CalPERS decision to end hedge fund investments should be a clarion call for pensions to re-examine their relationship with these and other nontraditional investment instruments. Trillions of dollars of public money as well as the retirement security of millions of workers are at stake.

If the public has a clear understanding of the agenda of the Immelts of the world, and their political allies, it will be better positioned to protect the entitlements that workers depend on have paid for.

The reality is that the government and the economy are so thoroughly integrated it is impossible to separate the two.

Everyone deserves a great public education, but better schools alone can’t fight inequality.

The most important benefit of Obamacare is the security it provides to the tens of millions of people who already had insurance—except that insurance, before the Affordable Care Act, was only as safe as their job.

Expanding health insurance to the uninsured was never the big story. The most important benefit of Obamacare is the security it provides to the tens of millions of people who already had insurance – except that insurance, before the Affordable Care Act, was only as safe as their job.

De Blasio is to the left of America's Democratic party, but he's no radical seeking to overthrow capitalism. Instead, he'll likely usher in progressive policies.

Dean Baker refutes Bill Keller's New York Times article, "Inequality for Dummies," published on December 22, (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/opinion/inequality-for-dummies.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0) in which he contrasts the "left-left against the "center-left.