The eruptions in Baltimore have been tied, in complex ways, to frustrations at American inequality, and a new measure of the economic gaps arrived earlier this year:

It turns out that the Wall Street bonus pool in 2014 was roughly twice the total annual earnings of all Americans working full time at the federal minimum wage.....

.....We as a nation have chosen to prioritize tax shelters over minimum wages, subsidies for private jets over robust services for children to break the cycle of poverty. And the political conversation is often not about free rides by corporations, but about free rides by the impoverished.....

.....So if we’re all upset at inequality, these are ideas to debate. Others, including Stiglitz, have put forth many more. Research groups like MDRC have rigorous evidence of what breaks cycles of poverty. In short: We’re not helpless.....

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