In the fall of 1969, Merle Haggard topped the Billboard country charts for four weeks with “Okie from Muskogee,” the song that quickly became the anthem of red America, even before we called it that. “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don’t take our trips on LSD, we don’t […] Read more »
Americans Continue to Say U.S. Wealth Distribution Is Unfair
Despite the growing focus on inequality in recent years, the 63% of Americans who say that money and wealth should be more evenly distributed among a larger percentage of the people is almost the same as the 60% who said this in 1984. CONT. Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
American Dream? Or Mirage?
… Recently, studies by two independent research teams (each led by an author of this article) found that Americans across the economic spectrum did indeed severely misjudge the amount of upward mobility in society. The data also confirmed the psychological utility of this mistake: Overestimating upward mobility was self-serving for […] Read more »
Left vs. Right: How Populism Plays in 2016 Race
The 2016 presidential campaign is just getting underway, but so far one message seems clear: populism’s moment has arrived. After years of tough economic times candidates are especially focused on “the little guy” – or at least the littler guy. … But expect very different brands of populism to be […] Read more »
ZIP Codes Map Out Impact of Baltimore Unrest
… While Baltimore is often thought of as an African-American city (and it is 63% African American), the story is more nuanced – as you can see on the table at the bottom of this article. ZIP Code 21210 on the northern edge of the city is about 78% white […] Read more »
Why Bloomberg’s Poll on Income Inequality is Misleading
What do Americans think of income inequality? In two recent polls, we get very different views of Americans’ views about the government’s potential role in reducing the disparity. A CBS News poll suggests a clear majority believing the government should do “more to reduce the gap between the rich and […] Read more »