There is a consensus among poverty experts that over the past 50 years there has been some improvement in the condition of the poor. … Despite the rising optimism, there are disagreements over how many poor people there are and the conditions they live under. There are also questions about […] Read more »
Support for redistribution in an age of rising inequality
Despite the large increases in economic inequality since 1970, American survey respondents exhibit no increase in support for redistribution, in contrast to the predictions from standard theories of redistributive preferences. We replicate these results but further demonstrate substantial heterogeneity by demographic groups. In particular, the two groups who have most […] Read more »
Worries About Terrorism, Race Relations Up Sharply
Out of 15 domestic issues, Americans’ concerns about terrorism and race relations have risen most sharply over the past year. The percentage of Americans who worry “a great deal” about the possibility of a terrorist attack (51%) climbed 12 percentage points from 2014 to 2015, while concerns about race relations […] Read more »
Establishment Populism Rising
Larry Summers, who withdrew his candidacy for the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve under pressure from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party in 2013, has emerged as the party’s dominant economic policy strategist. The former Treasury secretary’s evolving message has won over many of his former critics. Summers’s ascendance […] Read more »
AP-GfK Poll: Most Americans favor a higher minimum wage
Most Americans support increasing the minimum wage, as well as requiring employers to provide paid sick leave and parental leave, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. All three were proposed by President Barack Obama during his recent State of the Union address as ways to increase protections for American […] Read more »
How Americans are feeling about the fight against ISIS, economy
As President Obama seeks new congressional authorization for using military force against ISIS, Americans’ views on how things are going for the U.S. in its conflict with the militant group are negative and getting worse. Sixty-seven percent of Americans think things are going at least somewhat badly for the U.S. […] Read more »