By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal
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This Is the Key to Recovering Black Wealth in America (The Nation)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Mike Konczal and Bryce Covert note that housing segregation continues to limit Black economic mobility and contribute to a racist criminal justice system.
Housing segregation deprives black families of the opportunity to build wealth through their homes. African-American borrowers were twice as likely to be affected by the foreclosure crisis as white borrowers, in part because they were preyed upon by lenders peddling high-cost subprime mortgages during the bubble. These lenders took advantage of the lack of access that black families have to traditional low-cost mortgages.
The crisis devastated what little ground black people had gained in building home wealth: by 2010, whites had six times the wealth of blacks, up from four times the wealth in 2007. With the housing market’s recovery, the median net worth of white households today is thirteen times higher than that of black ones. Median wealth for black families fell 33.7 percent between 2010 and 2013, while white households saw theirs rise. Even black Americans with high levels of income and education cannot escape high-poverty areas. Among middle- and upper-class black people, half of all children are raised in impoverished neighborhoods, compared with just 1 percent of their white peers.
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Obama's Tax Proposal Is Really About Shaping the Democratic Party After Obama (NYT)
The President's call to raise capital gains taxes while cutting taxes for workers won't get far in a Republican Congress, writes Neil Irwin, but it gives Democrats an organizing vision.
America Just Got Its First Glimpse at Hillarynomics -- Here's What It Looks Like (Vox)
A new report produced by key Clinton insiders emphasizes middle-class growth, writes Matt Yglesias, but sets aside thornier issues like Too Big To Fail or a public option for health care.
The New Compassionate Conservatism and Trickle-Down Economics (Robert Reich)
The 2016 Republican frontrunners may talk a big game about addressing inequality, says Robert Reich, but unless they renounce Reagonomics, their policies will only make it worse.
Democrats Urge Obama to 'Be Bold' on Overtime Pay Expansion (HuffPost)
Lawmakers want the Labor Department to make salaried workers earning less than $69,000 a year eligible for overtime pay, writes Dave Jamieson. The administration is considering a $42,000 threshold.
Community Benefits Agreements Under Attack (Al Jazeera)
An ALEC-backed bill in Michigan would ban government contracts that require businesses to meet community improvement goals in exchange for tax breaks and subsidies, reports Amy B. Dean.