Talk: Economic Boom! For Whom?
Hurricane Katrina exposed the dramatic race and class cleavages that divide the United States. Felice Yeskel, Ed.D., Co-Director of Class Action and co-founder of United for a Fair Economy, will present an interactive talk on growing economic inequality in the United States.
The presentation will examine the causes and manifestations of income and wealth disparities in the United States. We will look at tax policy in light of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, the impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the other economic policies and shifts in power that have fueled the growing divide. We will examine scapegoating, the racial wealth divide, and the politics of divide and conquer that have been fostered.
We will also focus on the impact on colleges and universities in terms of privatization, soaring tuition and fees, and cuts in student grants and loans.
Felice Yeskel, is also the co-author of Economic Apartheid in America: A Primer on Economic Inequality and Insecurity. The book has received much praise:
“This book is an indispensable primer on the American economy that shows just how the rules families play by got changed in the middle of the game—and how we can work together to create a fair playing field.”
--Marian Wright Edelman, CEO and Founder, Children’s Defense Fund
"Terse, shocking, and richly documented, Economic Apartheid in America is both an indispensable resource and a call to arms!"
-Barbara Ehrenreich, author, Nickel and Dimed
“Economic Apartheid in America provides an overwhelming rebuttal to the purveyors of the notion that our society lives in a classless oligarchy governed by a benign plutocracy. It is full of daily livelihood data and practical proposals to pursue politically and civically that amount to a wakeup call for Americans to pursue a fair economy as if people mattered first.”
--Ralph Nader