Clik here to view.
Oh No He Didn’t! Wait, But What Does GDP per Capita Actually Mean?
Credit: Wikimedia Commons During his recent trip abroad, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney caused a political stir in Israel (among other places he went) when he said that “culture makes all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Are Israelis So Much Wealthier Than Their Palestinian Neighbors? (and...
Romney was absolutely correct when noting that Israel’s GDP per capita is significantly higher than that in the Palestinian territories. But he was actually way off on the specifics: in suggesting that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GDP per Capita Around the World
Now that you can drop the concept of GDP per capita like the pros do, check out this interactive map that lists just about every country in the world (226) and their respective GDP per capita ranks in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eight Neighboring Nations with the World’s Largest Wealth Disparities (in GDP...
The world is not an equal place, and some places are a lot more unequal than others. A national political border can have incredible significance; an abstract line separating neighboring peoples,...
View ArticleFollowing the Money: Who’s Paying for the Propositions?
Individuals and organizations are spending millions in this election to win support for, or to defeat, a variety of propositions on California’s ballot. Anyone who’s watched even a smidgen of TV in...
View ArticleWhat Is The Safety Net (and who uses it)?
What’s the deal with “the safety net”? The presidential candidates spend a lot of time talking and arguing about it, and the Democratic and Republican party platforms both seem to have pretty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Prop. 30 Means For Your Taxes
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Wait … Californians actually voted to tax increase their own taxes? Get outta here! Like most Americans, California residents don’t look too kindly on the notion of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Making Sense of Debt, Deficits and Other Dull Mysteries of the Universe
Back in 2011, Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling without some major deficit reductions. OK, so what does this all really mean? The deficit is the revenue gap between what the government...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sequester Explained in Plain English
President Obama and Washington lawmakers are in a tizzy over the looming sequester deadline, that self-imposed fiscal doomsday machine set to go off tonight at 11:59 p.m. (barring any eleventh hour...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Does the Government Spend Your Tax Dollars?
Getty Images Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Well, the deadline for the latter inevitability (and hopefully not the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America’s Persistent Gender Pay Gap
PBS Remember that “binders full of women” comment made by Mitt Romney in the second presidential debate last October? That infamous blunder – the subject of countless tweets and memes – was in response...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The History of America’s Immigration Policy: A Turbulent Timeline
Recently arrived Irish immigrants in the the mid-1800s. Ever since the first Europeans landed here over four centuries ago, America has had a conflicted relationship with its newcomers. It’s a serial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who Made Your T-Shirt? The Hidden Cost of Cheap Fashion
Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed last month, killing more than 1,100 garment workers. (Wikipedia Commons) Everyone likes a good deal. And for that reason, most of us have flocked to clothing stores...
View ArticleWhy America Stopped Making Its Own Clothes
Try this on for size: In 1960, an average American household spent over 10 percent of its income on clothing and shoes – equivalent to roughly $4,000 today. The average person bought fewer than 25...
View ArticleHow Much Does it Really Cost to Live in California?
California’s statewide minimum wage is $8/hour. But in order to pay for basic living expenses, a single California resident with no children actually needs to make more like $11.20/hour. This is an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Feeling Fried, Fast-Food Workers Fight for A Living Wage
Steve Rhodes/Flickr As it turns out, a lot of the workers who make Happy Meals aren’t actually all that happy about it. It was a sentiment made abundantly clear in late August during a wave of one-day...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California’s Minimum Wage Earners Promised A Pay Raise
Wikimedia California’s lowest-paid workers received some much welcomed news this week when state lawmakers approved a hotly contested bill to gradually bump up the minimum wage to $10 an hour. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Animated Explainer: What’s All The Fuss About Fracking in California?
Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to create California’s first set of regulations on hydraulic fracturing. The controversial extraction technique, commonly known as fracking, involves the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Infographic: What Does it Mean to Be Poor in America?
By Andy Warner Earlier this month — back in the good ole’ days when our government was actually functioning (sort of) — the U.S. Census Bureau released a series of 2012 income data for American...
View Article
