SUMMARY: Whites in the U.S. have much greater household and individual wealth than blacks and other minorities. In fact, the typical black household has about 10 cents for every dollar of wealth in a typical white household. Some economists and politicians believe this racial wealth disparity will continue to widen unless it's addressed. As Paul Solman reports, one idea for closing it begins at birth.
SUMMARY: This weeks marks the 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission, a bipartisan assessment of race in America that revealed the nation to be both separate and unequal. A half century later, a new report ["Healing Our Divided Society"] takes stock of what we’ve begun to fix, and what still needs to be done. Hari Sreenivasan talks to the author of the new report, Fred Harris, and Darren Walker president of the Ford Foundation.
SUMMARY: Ten years since the economic recession, lending has returned for many Americans. Yet the gap between white and black home-ownership is wider now than it was in 1960, with signs of modern-day redlining showing up across the country. Special correspondent Aaron Glantz reports as part of a year-long investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
SUMMARY: Since banks constricted credit after the 2008 housing bust, they have been slowly increasing the amount they’re lending. But this economic prosperity has not reached everyone. Watch part two of a two-part series by Aaron Glantz of Reveal.
SUMMARY: One of the biggest questions surrounding the Republican tax overhaul is who benefits from the changes. Democrats have decried it as a giveaway to the rich, but GOP defenders insist it will cut most middle class taxes and boost jobs. Lisa Desjardins reports; and Judy Woodruff talks to Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the American Action Forum and Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
SUMMARY: Is geographic mobility the key to moving up the economic ladder? Economists are finding that the odds no longer favor American kids in doing better than their parents, but some hope that uprooting their families and moving to safer streets with better schools will guarantee a brighter economic future. Economics correspondent Paul Solman explores the link between location and inequality.
SUMMARY: In the debate over health care reform, President Trump must now decide whether he will continue to make payments to insurance companies in order to cover out-of-pocket costs and deductibles for low-income consumers. Judy Woodruff speaks with Robert Laszewski, president of Healthcare Policy and Marketplace Review, about the ramifications of cutting off those subsidy payments.
SUMMARY: President Trump's tax reform blueprint calls for eliminating the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax, cutting all itemized deductions except for mortgage interest and charitable giving, and getting rid of taxes on the first $24,000 if a couple's earnings. How does that affect tax revenue? William Brangham gets reaction from Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
SUMMARY: Why are American health care costs by far the highest in the world? Journalist and former practicing physician Elisabeth Rosenthal chronicles how we got here in her new book, "An American Sickness." Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks with Rosenthal about the forces driving high prices and what could be done to bring costs down.
SUMMARY: The middle class has taken center stage in this election cycle, and it turns out there are increasingly fewer Americans who qualify. A new Pew analysis finds their ranks have shrunk since 2000 and that in at least 160 metro areas there's been a rise in both lower and upper class families. Hari Sreenivasan talks to Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal for more on why the middle class is shrinking.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): We have spent much time this year talking about the travails of the middle class. Now a new analysis shows how it's shrinking in most U.S. metro areas.
From Boston to Goldsboro, North Carolina, to Midland, Texas, to Seattle, there are fewer adults living in middle class households across the country than there were in 2000. The analysis by the Pew Research Center found that in 160 metro areas, there was an increase of lower-income households. And 172 metro areas saw a rise in upper-income households.
This year, we're teaming up with American Public Media's Marketplace and PBS' “Frontline” on how economic forces are affecting Americans. It's called "How the Deck Is Stacked."
And the host of Marketplace, Kai Ryssdal, joins us again.
Kai, just so we're all on the same page, who is really middle class vs. who thinks they're middle class?
KAI RYSSDAL, Host & Senior Editor, Marketplace: So, for the purposes of this study, Hari, it goes like this.
Anybody making from two-thirds to twice the median income in this country. So, it's $47,000 to about $125,000, if you want to run the numbers.
HARI SREENIVASAN: So, those are the folks that are actually in the middle class. But we kind of feel like there are a lot of people in the middle class, a lot of people who would want to self-identify as a member of the middle class. I'm the average Joe.
KAI RYSSDAL: Right, that's what we are in this country. Right? We are aspirational. We want inclusive prosperity.
If you stop seven people — 10 people on the street, probably seven of them would say I am the middle class. And that's why this study matters, right, because what happens in this economy is that the middle class drives it. The middle class are the consumers. Right? Their upper ends are the investors. The lower end are getting by. The middle class are the consumers in this economy.
And so what this study really says is, this is bad news for the future of economic growth in this country, and that's why it matters.
SUMMARY: The so-called carried interest loophole is a tax break used by hedge funds and other investment groups that lets wealthy money managers pay a relatively low investment tax rate. Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes a close look at the controversial tax break.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Now, a tax break that is coming under fire, one used by hedge funds and money managers, controversial because of the way profits are taxed at a much lower rate.
Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, explores what it’s all about, part of our weekly series Making Sen$e, which airs every Thursday on the NewsHour.
PROTESTERS: (NewsHour) Hey, hedge fund billionaires!
PROTESTERS: Pay your fair share!
Hey, hedge fund billionaires, pay your fair share!
PAUL SOLMAN (NewsHour): The Hedge Clippers, an activist group targeting hedge fund billionaires and especially their tax breaks. In the past few months, the Clippers have been taking their tools to their targets’ backyards, like their March field trip to Greenwich, Connecticut.
PROTESTERS: Hedge funds, pay your taxes! Billionaires, pay your taxes!
PAUL SOLMAN: Their July jaunt to The Hamptons, summertime playground of the 0.1 percent.
PROTESTERS: We can see your greedy side.
PAUL SOLMAN: And, earlier this month, to the Midtown Manhattan headquarters of Bloomberg, where a conference was taking place to — quote — “celebrate the leaders and innovators who shape economies.”
