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A wealth tax? It could work in the U.S.

COMMENTARY | We need more funding for public programs; we also need to address the obscene concentration of wealth The bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked by a reporter why he robbed banks, is reputed to have answered, “Because that’s where the money is ...

20 Dec 2019 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Invest our abundance in those who truly need it

DIRECTOR’S DESK | While Portland's wealthy make the city appear rich, hundreds of thousands in Multnomah County aren't able to meet basic needs The woman and a man – in their 20s, with big eyes and gentle smiles – stood next to a red sedan. Peop ...

6 Dec 2019 - Kaia Sand
Relaunching his Portland police novel, Kent Anderson laments worsened social climate

‘Night Dogs’ exposes racial and economic disparity in 1970s Portland The scene is Portland, Ore. A largely African-American community has been laid-off, bulldozed and forgotten, its neighborhoods awash in poverty and drugs. The police, even according to o ...

28 Jun 2019 - Jason Cohen
Portland airport workers call for better pay

‘PDX’s greatest assets’ are struggling on minimum wages Despite being on the job for only three years, George Van Gorder, wheelchair inspector at Portland International Airport, enjoys a senior status. Close to 70 years old, Van Gorder is a father, a gran ...

20 Jul 2018 - Sarah Hansell
Our fading American Dream and what we can do about it

COMMENTARY | Efforts to speed economic growth are not the solution A recent study published in Science Magazine, “The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940,” makes clear that the workings of the contemporary U.S. economy hav ...

29 Aug 2017 - Martin Hart-Lan...
Born into ‘1 percent,’ Chuck Collins has strong words for the privileged

'We need to change the story of wealth,' says the Oscar Mayer heir Chuck Collins is the great-grandson of Oscar Mayer. A member of the economic elite, you might be tempted to stereotype him as callous. But in 1986, he donated his inheritance of ...

28 Jul 2017 - Megan Wildhood
SR editorial: Revise Oregon’s mortgage interest deduction

The largest housing subsidy dwarfs the funds dedicated to housing Oregon’s most vulnerable populations The time has come, Oregon. It’s time to modify the state’s mortgage interest deduction. Of course it’s popular, and of course people love it. It’s a ta ...

23 Mar 2017 - SR editorial board
What will it take to achieve economic gender equality?

COMMENTARY | 65 other countries do better at paying women equally with men doing similar work The first International Women’s Day, March 8, pushed for women’s right to vote, as well as rights to work, vocational training and discrimination-free workplaces ...

2 Mar 2017 - Mary King
Oregon solar projects must benefit low-income – but how?

The state is required to adopt rules for a community solar program, and it's looking to Colorado and Minnesota for ideas As their deadline approaches, policymakers are figuring out how to implement state-mandated community solar programs across Orego ...

16 Feb 2017 - Emily Green
I’m forming a Burgerville union because I’m barely getting by | COMMENTARY

Eli Fishel and her co-workers envision a $5-an-hour raise starting immediately I believe that everyone working, 30 to 40 hours a week especially, should be making enough to live, at the very least. They should also be making enough to move forward in thei ...

7 Jun 2016 - Eli Fishel