Inequality in the United States is now so obscene that it’s impossible, even for mainstream economists, to avoid the issue of surplus.

Richard Thaler’s work and the work of most behavioral economists focuses on the limits to individual rationality and not on the perverse incentives and structures that plague contemporary capitalism. 

In a new book, Richard V Reeves worries that the top echelons of the U.S. middle class—those earning over $120,000—are separating from the rest of the country, and pulling up the drawbridge behind them. But Reeves needs to take another look at what’s going on: what about the people who produce but do not share in the surplus—or, for that matter, have any say in what happens to the surplus?

“Time theft” is an ongoing problem of contemporary capitalism, both within the dictatorship of the workplace and in the seeming democracy of our lives outside of work.

Economist David Ruccio responds to Elizabeth Anderson and her recent article for Vox about workplace dictatorship.

Large corporations and wealthy individuals pay far less than their fair share of taxes. Until we democratize the economy, the rest of us—who are not members of the boards of directors of large corporations or wealthy individuals—will continue to be forced to shoulder the burden of paying taxes to finance government services.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin may not be worried, but we should be. Workers will continue to suffer unless and until they have a say in how robots and the resulting surplus are utilized.