U.S. student loan debt surpassed $1.6 trillion in June 2019 according to Federal Reserve data, representing a 107% increase from approximately $772 billion at the end of 2009 and affecting some 44 million American borrowers. The milestone crystallized the student debt crisis as a systemic economic …
Between 2005 and 2024, the United States operated a two-tiered bankruptcy system that weaponized debt against students and working Americans while preserving bankruptcy as a strategic wealth-preservation tool for corporations and the wealthy—a defining example of 21st century American kleptocracy. …
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act establishes a five-year lifetime limit on federally funded cash assistance through the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This represents a fundamental restructuring of the American social safety net, …
President Bill Clinton signs the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), fulfilling his 1992 campaign promise to “end welfare as we know it.” The legislation represents the most significant overhaul of the American welfare system since the New …
On October 22, 1986, President Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the centerpiece of his second term domestic agenda. The legislation dramatically lowered the top individual income tax rate from 50% to 28% - the largest single drop in the history of the federal income tax - while reducing the …
By mid-Reagan presidency, the structural mechanisms of permanent upward wealth redistribution are firmly established: union-busting destroys worker bargaining power, tax policy rewards capital over labor, financial deregulation enables speculation and asset stripping, and weakened antitrust …
Real wages for American workers begin a prolonged period of stagnation and decline during the Reagan era, with median hourly wages falling nearly a dollar from $16.90 to $16.00 between 1980-1990. Average real hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers—representing the vast majority of …