The increase in inequality in income is a longtime trend, but the pressure on middle- and low-income workers is going up rapidly. Especially if they live in an area where there are high housing and gas prices, like California.

The 'American dream' ... means an economy in which people who work hard can get ahead and each new generation lives better than the last one. The 'American dream' also means a democratic political system in which most people feel they can affect public decisions and elect officials who will speak for them. In recent years, the dream has been fading.

If simple, painless solutions to public problems existed, they would have been found long ago.

The federal budget deficit is the biggest single impediment to revitalizing the American economy.

Politicians pay more attention to interest groups than to the public interest.

The job of the Central Bank is to worry.

Cynics about government find much to be cynical about.