Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

From This Collection

New Rand study quantifies cost of rising U.S. inequality

Dec 8, 2020
In the past 40 years, income inequality has cost 90% of workers about $2.5 trillion, the Rand study suggests.
From the mid-1970s on, while the U.S. economy has grown, fewer people have reaped the benefits.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Student loan debt adds to racial wealth disparities, research finds

The costs for Black borrowers to pursue a college have been growing exponentially.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

The gig economy and how workers might win it back

One way to rethink the "sharing economy" involves setting up co-ops on apps.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

The need for an equity-based universal basic income

Aug 21, 2020
José Quiñonez says a targeted, data-driven system will help us during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
EricGerrard/Getty Images

Organizing labor in an era of temporary work and the gig economy

The labor movement of the future moves beyond traditional collective bargaining, says former SEIU Local 26 President Javier Morillo.
The labor movement and unions have seen declining power for decades.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Eliminating the concept of waste from the economy

Aug 19, 2020
For architect William McDonough, an economy of the future is a "circular economy."
"If we're destroying the Earth, we have to ask ourselves, is this is our intention? And if it's not, perhaps we need a new design," architect William McDonough says.
David McNew/Getty Images

Universal basic income, blockchain and more: Reimagining the next decade

"If people don't have money in their pockets, then this type of economy that we have can't work," says Wharton professor Mauro Guillén.
Mauro Guillén says that the future uses of blockchain, the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies, include incentivizing "prosocial behavior" like energy conservation.
Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on rebuilding trust between the city and its people

Lightfoot wants to "unwind" Chicago's "addiction to fines and fees" so as to not drive people into bankruptcy and out of the economy.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

How social impact bonds could spark prosperity for Indian Country in a pandemic recovery

Aug 14, 2020
"Investors are willing to put money on the table for projects with a positive social outcome," Patrice Kunesh says.
Sharon Chischilly/Getty Images

How lobbying and regulation can worsen inequality, according to one political science professor

Steven Teles wants to arm legislators with more research staff so they can push back when lobbyists fight institutional change.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images