Robert Reich, Living New Deal board member, has been getting a lot of attention lately, thanks to his new film, Inequality for All. He has been interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and by Bill Moyers on Moyers & Company. Moyers asked Reich: what can we do to fix our economy? Reich has a clear plan of action — which he lays out in the Moyers video — to ensure there is “upward mobility again, in our society and in our economy.” It sounds a lot like a New New Deal. He also believes that only political engagement by all Americans will help “change the rules” that created the widening income gap between the top one percent and everyone else, which degrades our democracy and undermines the economy. Stagnant wages and piling up of consumer debt was a major cause of the Great Recession (whose effects we are still living with). Reich has set up a “take action” area on the film’s website, where he is promoting actions we can take to improve the future health of America’s economy.
Robert Reich is one of the great voices of our time. One hopes he will not overlook the unifying factor of “Economic Discrimination Before the Law” when analyzing our country’s problems and prescribing solutions.