The Weekend Economists travel the Yellow Brick Road, November 14-15.

[Demeter]

4. 10 Shocking Economic Facts that Power the Sanders Insurgency

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/10-shocking-economic-facts-power-sanders-insurgency

Why are so many drawn to the Sanders message? It's not because he's a political outsider. (He's a Senator who has spent his entire adult life in politics.) It's not because he's a good Jewish boy from Brooklyn. (Jews make up only about 2% of the American population.) And it's not because he's a self-declared socialist. (Few of us have any idea what that means in today's global economy.)

Rather, it's because so many of us want to stop our entire society from crumbling beneath the destructive power of runaway inequality. Here are 10 crucial economic facts that provide the glue for the Sanders message. (The charts are taken from Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice.)

1. The rich are getting richer, the rest of us are not.



2. Wall Street/CEO Greed



3. The biggest banks are getting bigger.



4. Students are crippled with debt.



5. We lead the developed world in child poverty



6. You can't live on the minimum wage



7. The tax system favors the rich



8. The rich buy the political system



9. "The American Dream" is fading away



10. The largest police state in the world



Taking them on

Perhaps Bernie's biggest applause line is the one that sets us on our course. His campaign cannot succeed in one election. We need to connect with our neighbors and colleagues and help organize and mobilize for change.

"This campaign is sending a message to the billionaire class: Yes, we have the guts to take you on."

Let's hope he's right.

DETAILS ON PROBLEMS AND BERNIE'S PROPOSED SOLUTIONS AT LINK


Les Leopold is the director of the Labor Institute in New York. His latest book is Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice (Chelsea Green, 2015). For bulk orders contact him at [e-mail].