Can Society Afford to Hail a Ride in a Post-Prop 22 World?

Without a True Safety Net, Gig Workers Suffer as Ride-Sharing Companies Cling to a Broken Business Model

What would a safety net look like for gig workers at Uber, Lyft, and other companies of the internet-based economy?

It would provide health insurance, naturally, and a retirement plan, sick leave, and injured worker and unemployment compensation. And it would be equitable and portable: A person working part time for a number of different companies would have access to robust benefits that travel with them from job to job.

The good news is that there is a way to design just that sort of safety net. The bad news is …

by Steven Hill | December 3, 2020

Eduardo Porter and Cynthia Greenlee | Zócalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Has Racism Shaped the American Economy?

Eduardo Porter and Cynthia Greenlee Discuss Institutional Failures and a National Lack of Empathy

by Sara Suárez | July 21, 2020

What is the relationship between American economics and American racism, and can it be severed? How will systemic racism, past and present, slow our emergence from the current downturn? New …

How a Long Beach Doctor Created Social Security

The Angry Retiree Wrote the Letter That Helped Establish the Great Depression's Most Enduring Program

By Ernie Powell | August 31, 2015

Long Beach, California, is known today for its terrific aquarium, for the Queen Mary, and for being the hometown of Snoop Dogg. But its greatest contribution to the United States …

My Modest Retirement Is Not Bankrupting America

Retired State Employees Like Me Aren’t Living It Up, But We’re Getting By—Which Is More Than You Can Say for the Next Generation

by Drew Mendelson | March 23, 2015

I’m a Boomer or close enough, born in December 1945. My parents, who grew up during the Great Depression, told me that financial security, especially in retirement, was the most …