Stories by Chuck Collins

Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and chair of the Working Group on Extreme Inequality, an emerging coalition of religious, business, labor and civic groups concerned about the wealth gap. He is coauthor with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes. subscribe to Chuck Collins's feed

10 Steps to Break Up the Wealth of the Super Rich

Posted on: Oct 10, 2012, Source: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Here's what it's going to take to have a society where everybody prospers and get a fair shake, as this excerpt from Collins' book 99 to 1 explains.

Most of Us Will Not Have a Better Life Unless We Turn the Tables on the Super Rich

Posted on: Oct 4, 2012, Source: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Chuck Collins' new book '99 to 1' reveals how wealth inequality is wrecking everything.

iHate Corporate Tax Dodgers: How Apple Avoids Paying Its Fair Share

Posted on: May 31, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Apple looks downright patriotic next to master tax dodgers like General Electric and Boeing, but it still pays far less than it should.

We Don't Need to Shut Down the Government: Tax the Wealthy and Deadbeat Corporations to Close Budget Gaps

Posted on: Apr 7, 2011, Source: AlterNet

If corporations and households with $1 million income paid at the same levels they did in 1961, the Treasury would collect an additional $716 billion a year.

Vision: In it Together -- How Banding into Groups Can Help Us Face the Next Catastrophe

Posted on: Jan 31, 2011, Source: YES! Magazine

This isn't a future you can, or should, face alone. How to make sure you don't have to.

Stephen King Meets the Estate Tax

Posted on: Dec 20, 2009, Source: AlterNet

What horrors will befall our nation's wealthy when one of the most bizarre twists in tax legislation in history comes to pass?

Victory: Taxing Wealth Dynasties Will Continue

Posted on: Oct 5, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Last Monday, a coalition of lobbyists and families finally gave up on trying to abolish the federal estate tax, the only tax on inherited wealth.

Billionaires Thank Tea-Baggers at Glenn Beck's March on Washington

Posted on: Sep 14, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The Billionaires' motto is: "If we’re not broke, don’t fix it."

So What Happened to That Talk About Reining in CEO Pay?

Posted on: Jun 24, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The Obama administration has watered down the rules on executive pay into mushy prescriptions that pose no real threat to the Big Boys' windfalls.

Tax Day: You Pay Your Taxes -- Why Don't the Rich Pay Their Share?

Posted on: Apr 14, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Few Americans realize just how incredibly little our nation's wealthy now pay in taxes. Our grandparents seriously taxed the rich. Why can't we?

Executive Pay and the Obscene Culture of Wall Street

Posted on: Apr 2, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Some expert talking points on an economy in crisis.

What Would the Man Who Got Us Out of the Last Depression Do About Wall Street's Greed?

Posted on: Mar 22, 2009, Source: AlterNet

What would FDR do if he were around to see AIG's bonus bozos spit in the face of the American taxpayer?

Looking for Support in Hard Economic Times?

Posted on: Mar 22, 2009, Source: OnTheCommons.org

Part mutual aid association and part social action group, common security clubs offer a great way to take action.

Obama Is Right to Take on the Very Rich

Posted on: Feb 24, 2009, Source: Christian Science Monitor

They're paying far less of their incomes in taxes than average Americans.

Corporate America, Ground Your Jets

Posted on: Feb 20, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The American taxpayer, reeling from the economic meltdown, doesn't feel like subsidizing lavish jets and bonuses any more.

10 Ways to Bail Out Wall Street (and Main Street) Without Soaking Taxpayers in Debt

Posted on: Sep 24, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Who says we need to borrow a trillion dollars to save Wall Street from its own excesses?

Tax the Speculators: A Fair Plan for Economic Recovery

Posted on: Sep 21, 2008, Source: The Nation

Government action should protect ordinary people, not reward the super-rich and the speculative sectors of the economy.

At the Height of an Energy Crisis, Fat-Cat CEOs Still Litter the Skies with Private Jets

Posted on: Jun 27, 2008, Source: The Baltimore Sun

The private-jet perk is -- literally and figuratively -- a high-profile sign of an executive reward system out of control.

Want to Stimulate the Economy? Tax the Wealthy

Posted on: Jan 24, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Underlying our economic crisis is a polarization of income and wealth.

Warren Buffett to Congress: Keep Taxing the Mega-Rich

Posted on: Nov 18, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Calls "death tax" rhetoric "intellectually dishonest" and "clever, Orwellian and dead wrong."

Minimum Wage Increase Is Good for Business

Posted on: Jan 29, 2007, Source: TomPaine.com

A growing number of business owners are supporting the minimum wage increase, which the Senate may vote on tomorrow.

Time to Rein In the Pump Profiteers

Posted on: Aug 29, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Ordinary people may believe that unprecedented global strife is a bad thing. The barons of Big Oil beg to differ.

Evidence of Election Fraud Grows in México

Posted on: Aug 1, 2006, Source: AlterNet

As the U.S. media distorts the aftermath of the July 2 election, evidence suggests there may be an attempted theft in progress.

U.S. Media Should Butt Out of Mexico's Election

Posted on: Jul 5, 2006, Source: AlterNet

With 2.5 million votes still to be counted, American news outlets have already declared victory for Mexico's conservative presidential candidate.

Mexican Election in Limbo

Posted on: Jul 3, 2006, Source: AlterNet

In an emotional election too close to call, the two leading candidates are each declaring confidence in their victory.

A Rising Tide in Mexico

Posted on: Apr 12, 2006, Source: AlterNet

The next president of Mexico could be a left populist who puts the needs of ordinary Mexicans ahead of international corporate investors -- if the U.S. refrains from meddling.

Billionaires R Us

Posted on: Oct 23, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Wal-Mart's Walton family now has 771,287 times more money than the median U.S. household. What gives?

Case Against Inheritance Tax Is Bogus

Posted on: Sep 14, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The case for abolishing the federal estate tax is a sham, deflated by Congress' own research and investigative reporting.

Long Live the Estate Tax!

Posted on: Feb 2, 2003, Source: The Nation

Instead of taking steps that would strengthen our democracy, we're heading backward to the wealth inequalities of a century ago.

Victory on Estate Tax!

Posted on: Jun 12, 2002, Source: United for a Fair Economy

Read an open letter from one of the organizers of the successful battle to preserve the estate tax.