As all of you know, the topic of growing wealth and income inequality in America has moved to the center of American politics over the last handful of years – not just among Democrats but even Republicans, though the suggested solutions are quite different from each party. So we decided to put together a major series on the topic: an introduction plus four longform articles, written from a variety of angles and areas of expertise. I mentioned earlier this week that TPM is about to celebrate its 15th anniversary online. And that has put me in the mind of my life-muse Bob Dylan’s line that “he who is not busy being born is busy dying,” which I interpret as the need to constantly reinvent, experiment and never settle into the comfort of the deathly hand of the past. So this is something entirely new for us and something I’m very excited about. We were able to get AFSCME to sponsor the series which gave us the funds to really do it right, to find the best writers, put everything together in a polished way and really go deep without the standard need – which is eternal in publishing, especially if you’re independent – to sweat whether the investment pays off in page views and clicks.
So today, we’re publishing the first of five pieces in the series, which is an introduction from me on the hows and whys of why we’re doing this, what questions we’re trying to answer and introductions of who we’ve got writing the pieces and what each piece in the series is about. The first full length piece debuts Monday. Here’s my introductory essay. I’m eager to hear what you think and I hope you enjoy the series.
