Author Archive

Is the nation’s and Ohio’s poverty rate an inescapable fact of life or one we choose to ignore? The breadth of the problem is inescapable: 16.7 percent of Franklin County residents live at the poverty level—$25,100 annual income for a family of four—and the poverty rate has increased in every large Ohio city from 1999 to the 2013-2017 period. At last count, it’s 20.8 percent in Columbus and 36.8 percent in Youngstown.

If we want to fix the problem, ...

The Dow Jones has been on the rise, and the unemployment rate is 3.8 percent. The  economy is humming, but is everyone benefitting? It depends on where you stand on the economic ladder. Let’s take a look, starting at the top.

Wealth at the top is increasing. According to the Spectrum Group, the number of households with a net worth of $1 million to $5 million, not including primary residence, grew in 2016 to 10.8 million; households with a net worth ...