Initiatives
Organizations interested in inequality

Inequality-Related Organizations and Institutions

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Inequality-Related Organizations and Institutions

Organizing projects

• New Economy Working Group An informal think tank-media-business network alliance working to distribute and root economic power in people and communities, support the cooperative sharing of resources, and give priority to building the community wealth essential to the health and well-being of all.
• Other 98 Percent A grassroots network of concerned citizens fed up with the status quo in Washington that’s seeking practical solutions to help Americans stand against the bankers, CEOs, and lobbyists who’ve hijacked our democracy to serve themselves at the expense of everyone else.
• US UNCUT. A national grassroots movement drawing attention through direct action to unnecessary state and federal budget cuts in light of billions of dollars in unpaid taxes by corporate tax dodgers.
• Common Security Club A network of locally based groups, situated in communities and congregations, that help participants learn more about today’s economic and ecological challenges, undertake mutual aid and shared action, and become part of a larger effort to create a fair and healthy economy that works for everyone.
• Mind the Gap. An educational effort, sponsored by NETWORK, the national Catholic social justice lobby, that aims to help build understanding “about the causes and consequences of this huge wealth gap.”

Advocacy groups

• Wealth for Common Good A network of business leaders and high-income Americans working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation, with members who range from entrepreneurs and doctors to elected officials of all backgrounds and political stripes.
• Business for Shared Prosperity Business owners, executives, and investors who support public policies and business practices that expand economic opportunity, reduce inequality, promote innovation, and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure for long-term success.
• United for a Fair Economy A national group working to raise awareness about how concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart.
• On the Commons. A national network working to protect the commons and our commonwealth in ways that promote equity and sustainability.

Think tanks

• Economic Policy Institute This Washington D.C. center has been broadening the discussion about economic policy to cover the interests of low- and middle-income workers since 1986.
• Demos A New York City-based nonpartisan public policy research and advocacy organization working for a more equitable economy with widely shared prosperity and opportunity, among other goals.
• Institute for Policy Studies A Washington, D.C. and Boston-based community of public scholars and organizers working with social movements to promote true democracy and challenge concentrated wealth, corporate influence, and military power.
• Center for Economic and Policy Research. A national research organization working to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people’s lives.
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities A Washington, D.C.-based policy organization working at the federal and state levels on policies and programs that impact low- and moderate-income families and individuals.
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research. A rigorous research group that explores how poverty and inequality affect women and also examines pay inequality between women and men.

Inequality analysis

• The Equality Trust A London-based effort, founded in 2009, that aims to reduce income inequality through a public and political education designed to widen understanding of the harm that income inequality inflicts on our modern societies.
• Citizens for Tax Justice A Washington, D.C.-based public interest research and advocacy organization that seeks to give ordinary people a greater voice in tax policy, against the armies of special interest lobbyists for corporations and the wealthy.
• Luxembourg Income Study A cross-national data archive and research institute based in Luxembourg that offers scholars and the general public alike access to comparative inequality indicators and commentary.
• The Gini Project An interdisciplinary effort that draws on economics, sociology, political science, and health studies to examine the social impact of growing inequality.
• Population Health Forum A Seattle-based initiative designed to raise awareness and initiate dialogue about how political, economic, and social inequalities interact to affect the overall health status of our society.

Academic centers

• Cornell University Center for the Study of Inequality Endeavors to foster basic and applied research on social and economic inequalities, as well as the processes by which such inequalities change and persist.
• Columbia University Center for the Study of Wealth and Inequality Takes as its mission the investigation of income and wealth, along with exploring the dimensions of societal inequality in these household resources.
• Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality Works to orient social policy to increasing economic output while restraining the rise of debilitating and counterproductive forms of inequality.
• University of California at Berkeley Center for Equitable Growth Focuses on the linkages between inequality and economic growth, the impact of government policies on the distribution of economic well-being, and how public attitudes on equity and fairness affect the policy process. Led by economist Emmanuel Saez.
• University of Texas Inequality Project Aims to measure and explain movements of inequality in wages and earnings and patterns of industrial change around the world.
• Egalitarian World Initiative/University College Dublin Networks over 100 scholars working on social justice issues.