Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org, and is author of the new book, Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good. He is cofounder of Wealth for the Common Good, recently merged with the Patriotic Millionaires. He is co-author of 99 to 1: The Moral Measure of the Economy and, with Bill Gates Sr., of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes.
Articles by this author
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Views Monday, September 21, 2020 FinCen Files Shine Spotlight on Suspicious Bank Transfers In September 20th, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) –the reporters who brought us the “Panama Papers” and the “Paradise Papers ” — released the “ FinCEN Files,” in collaboration with Buzzfeed News. The FinCEN Files are the result of a U.S. leak of 2,100 “Suspicious... Read more |
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Views Monday, August 24, 2020 It Is Time for a One-Time Pandemic Wealth Tax on Billionaires’ Windfall Gains Nothing symbolizes the inequality of sacrifice during the Covid-19 pandemic more than watching a few hundred billionaires gain while everyone else struggles through job losses, debilitating illness, or death. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from Covid-19 and over 32 million have lost... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, August 19, 2020 How to Hide a Fortune During a Pandemic While some folks are volunteering at the local food bank, the super-wealthy are working to hide their money from future taxation. It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has been very good to the billionaire class. The richest dozen billionaires now have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, July 29, 2020 The Perils and Possibilities of Billionaire Charitable Giving: MacKenzie Scott (Bezos) Makes Her First Move MacKenzie Scott, the former spouse of Jeff Bezos, made a bold first announcement about how she plans to fulfill her Giving Pledge to give away most of her wealth, currently valued at $52 billion. In her statement on Medium , MacKenzie Scott announced $1.67 billion in direct grants to 116 charities... Read more |
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Views Friday, June 19, 2020 White Supremacy Is the Pre-existing Condition On June 19th, people across the United States will mark the anniversary of the emancipation of the last enslaved people in the United States by taking to the streets to demand Black Lives Matter. Behind the protests over police violence are the painful racial disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic... Read more |
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Views Monday, May 04, 2020 Time for an Emergency Charity Stimulus We are living through a time of unprecedented challenges: a major public health crisis and a deepening recession. Congress has already authorized trillions in stimulus funds. But millions of Americans are still relying on the support of local nonprofits such as food banks and human services. These... Read more |
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Views Thursday, April 23, 2020 U.S. Billionaire Wealth Surges as Covid-19 Pandemic Worsens As the pandemic-fueled U.S. unemployment rate approaches 15 percent, America’s billionaire class is experiencing a wealth surge, according to a new Institute for Policy Studies report that I co-authored with Omar Ocampo and Sophia Paslaski, Billionaire Bonanza 2020. Between March 18th and April... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, April 14, 2020 A Film Recommendation in Stay-at-Home Times: 'Sorry We Missed You' Director Ken Loach has done it again. “Sorry We Missed You” is a family drama infused with a searing look at life in the “gig economy” with a frayed social safety net. Like his previous film, “I, Daniel Blake,” this film is about working class people maintaining their dignity and humanity in the... Read more |
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Views Monday, April 13, 2020 Taxes Paid By Billionaires Decreased 79 Percent Since 1980, as Percentage of Their Wealth Conventional economic wisdom says a time of crisis is not the moment to enact tax increases. But, as Eric Toder at the Tax Policy Center recently pointed out: “[Tax experts] can begin to think of the time after the pandemic passes and how government should respond to massive increases in the public... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, February 25, 2020 The U.S. Would Be Better Off With Fewer Billionaires When folks say that billionaires shouldn't exist, it's nothing personal. Some billionaires are nice enough. Some spend generously on philanthropy. That all sounds great. But we don't need more do-gooder billionaires that give to charity—we need fewer billionaires. The problem is having an entire... Read more |