On Monday, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told a packed crowd at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., that the United States is paying a high price for the growing inequality facing the country. But, despite the long-thought idea that we have to choose between growth and equality, he said that the two are complements and that we can have both a strong, growing economy and equality.

AFL-CIO will be hosting two powerful Book Club events in Washington, D.C., that will help explain the current state of the U.S. economy, income inequality and the politics of austerity. On Monday, April 15, Nobel Prize-winning author Joseph Stiglitz will be discussing his book The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future . On Tuesday, April 16, Robert Kuttner will talk about his book Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility .

A group of prominent economists today urged President Obama and congressional leaders to raise the federal minimum wage , which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for three years. In a letter to the president and lawmakers they wrote: 

A higher minimum wage at this juncture will not only provide raises for low-wage workers but would provide some help on the jobs front as well.

A few days ago, economist Joseph Stiglitz said something quite provocative: "We've been shaping our society to create people who are more selfish."

The eye is drawn to the last part, "...create people who are more selfish." My takeaway message is at the beginning, "We've been shaping our society...."

The global union movement today took a step forward in its effort to move the global economy away from the failed policies of the past and toward a bold new economic model that focuses on creating jobs and more equitable and sustainable growth.

Global trade union leaders and economists have charted a new direction for the world’s economy in a just-released book, “ Exiting From the Crisis ,” which outlines how to create more equitable and sustainable economic growth.