Societal Powers & Economic Inequalities

As their fellowship comes to an end, the Millennial Public Policy Fellows are using their final DM posts to reflect on their 11-month journey through D.C.’s think tank and public policy landscape. 

My first blogpost argued that economic policy design needed to incorporate three principles to better serve poor and working-class families. First, policymakers needed to consider how the implementation of policies can reinforce patterns of social exclusion, depending on policies’ universality and progressivity. Second, policymakers must emphasis the harmful effects of market concentration. Finally, policymakers ought to design policies that promote political power for poor and working-class families, including aiding in workers’ ability to organize inside and outside of their workplaces, removing barriers to electoral participation, and curtailing corporate lobbying efforts.

One year later, new policies at the federal level have further reinforced economic inequality. It is clear that the principles behind our policies will continue to be shaped by the power relations in our society. I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to conduct research in service of the Poor People’s Campaign this past year, an organization that has challenged the current economic and political order in America. Working at the intersection of policy analysis and politics has reaffirmed my belief that comprehensive organizing by labor and community groups is the primary component for reducing inequality in America. Policy groups concerned with economic inequality must continue to deploy their resources towards supporting this work.