Inequality follow-up

Not trying to get too political here, but check this out. Robert Reich, US Secretary of Labor in the 1990’s, discusses the “heart of the economic mess” in this post. He explains that rising labor market inequality – the rising gap between rich and poor – isn’t going to be fixed by tax breaks (to individuals or corporations) or trade protections. Those are short-term fixes to structural economic problems. The only way to change the structure of the economy and solve long-term problems, he says, is to invest in “the productivity of our working people.” Access to good schools, progressive tax policy, clean energy, and rebuilding crumbling infrastructure are the only ways to get out of this mess. It’s your typical Keynesian argument of demand-driven (bottom-up) social reform focused on long-term investments. Interesting and compelling example of how economics intersects with education.