This week when we give thanks, let me say how grateful I am to have these conversations about a world that just might work and that folks take the time to listen, learn, and share. CHUCK COLLINS says a lot of people tell him, “…nothing a billionaire does harms my life.” In response, he wrote BURNED BY BILLIONAIRES: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. Collins directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, co-edits Inequality.org and its weekly newsletter, and writes the column, Oligarch Watch at The Nation Magazine.You can learn more at inequality.org and at ChuckCollinsWrites.com

 

FF_Collins Chuck-10-16-2025_Transcript

 

While Trump is in the Middle East making family business deals, House Republicans today proposed their tax cut bill, with a price tag of nearly $5T, paid for with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, green energy programs, and everything else DOGE took a chainsaw to. But who actually pays taxes these days? The US is now the world’s second largest tax haven, moving ahead of Switzerland, and trailing only the Cayman Islands. Here’s my 2021 conversation with CHUCK COLLINS, who directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits their newsletter, Inequality Weekly. We talk about his latest book, THE WEALTH HOARDERS: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. You can learn more at inequality.org

I don’t know if my big question is “Why don’t the rich/super-rich and their corporations get the value of a society that works?” Or is it – “Why don’t they care?” Despite the knowledge that it might be impossible, moving society in that direction calls for getting ideas and models out into the world that show it’s actually possible to reduce inequality. CHUCK COLLINS has been doing that for years in his work and writing. He runs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org and its (highly recommended) weekly newsletter.

A couple of weeks ago Americans filed their income taxes. Well, some of them did anyway. In the last decade, the United States has become the premiere global destination for hidden wealth. It is now the world’s second largest tax haven, moving ahead of Switzerland, and trailing only the Cayman Islands. I dig into this with CHUCK COLLINS, who directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org. We talk about his latest book, THE WEALTH HOARDERS: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. You can learn more at inequality.org

Inequality is getting worse. Most of us know that the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the US economy. Between March 18 and June 25, over 46 million people filed for unemployment. In that same period, however, U.S. billionaire wealth surged over $600 billion. At least eight billionaires have seen their wealth grow by more than $1 billion this year. I talk about this with CHUCK COLLINS, who directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org. His books include 99 TO 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It; and BORN ON THIRD BASE.