Hefner’s iconic Playmates, a scholar argues, need to be understood within their historical context, when men and especially women were expected to uphold strict standards of sexual propriety.
President Trump released details of his tax plan, which would essentially benefit the wealthiest Americans by repealing the estate tax and other changes at the expense of the middle class.
The uber pool of the 18th century.
James Pollard / Google Art Project
Research on how black people try to avoid racism in their daily lives shows that following white, mainstream standards can have mixed results.
Because the threshold for the Medicare levy exemption is based on family income, the reform will reinforce the move towards higher effective tax rates on low income second earners in a family.
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With its recent budget changes, the government is proposing a rise in marginal tax rates across a wide band of middle incomes and a marginal tax rate cut for the top.
Oxfam’s efforts to find solutions to the world’s inequalities are welcome but its wrongful use of “human economy” and repackaging it as a concept from high up might do more harm than good.
Providing more support for families with children is a key way to grow the middle class.
Kristen Wyatt/AP Photo
Trump should drop his plans to cut taxes and instead look to some of our closest friends to learn what policies actually work to build and sustain a vibrant middle class.
White South Africans own most companies and shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo.
The collapse of New Deal-era policies gave rise to deep-seated frustrations. Addressing that anger will require mobilizing workers, business leaders and others to get wages rising again.
People around the world woke up to a new U.S. president-elect.
Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters
Four of our economic scholars weigh in on Trump’s legislative agenda, healing the divide, uncertainty and something known as the ‘presidential puzzle.’
U.S. middle class, R.I.P.?
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Populations revolt when lives are improving but not fast enough to meet their rising expectations.
A street trader looks out from his store in Cape Town, South Africa. Defining people who earn US$2 a day as middle class doesn’t make sense.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Some economists have touted the rising middle class as a panacea for Africa’s challenges. But a more realistic diagnosis of what makes up a middle class is needed.
Falling homeownership rates, stagnant wages and diminishing retirement savings mean that for more and more Americans, the middle-class dream is slowly dying – if it’s not already gone.
Many people aspire to live a middle class life. Once they attain it, sustaining it is a big challenge.
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