By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal
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The Consequences of a Leaderless Economy (Yahoo! Finance)
Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Rob Johnson argues that America's failure to lead and China and Germany's resistance to change has left the global economy with a void at the top, though many in the financial sector consider themselves god-emperor.
Dissolving the Digital Divide (Impatient Optimists)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford writes that we need regulation and competition in the telecom industry to close the gap between Americans with fast and affordable Internet access and those stuck squinting at a download bar that will never fill up.
'Trickle-down consumption': How rising inequality can leave everyone worse off (WaPo)
Brad Plumer highlights a new paper from researchers at the University of Chicago that shows growing wealth at the top is driving everyone else deeper into debt in an attempt to keep up. Even jogging in place is tough when the treadmill keeps getting faster.
Wealthy Say Higher Taxes Haven't Hurt Spending, Investing (CNBC)
Many conservatives predicted the skies would tear open and rain cleansing fire on us all if taxes were raised for anyone making over $250K, but most top earners are reacting to higher rates with a shrug. And the Republican Party was never heard from again.
Is tax reform the new "repeal and replace"? (WaPo)
Jonathan Bernstein suspects that like the Republican alternative to health care reform that somehow failed to materialize despite 30-odd attempts to repeal the existing law, the GOP's promised version of comprehensive tax reform will turn out to be vaporware.
What Is the Fiscal Impact of Gay Marriage? (Bloomberg)
Josh Barro notes that research has shown legalizing same-sex marriage is likely to have a small but positive fiscal impact as spouses support each other financially, making it perhaps the one cost-cutting measure Republicans don't want to impose on the poor.
JPMorgan Chase Faces Full-Court Press of Federal Investigations (NYT)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protess report that regulators are devoting a lot of attention to JPMorgan, and in the wake of the London Whale, foreclosure fraud, and Bernie Madoff, those slots on their calendars aren't just being held for cocktails anymore.
It's dumb not to fill your company's board with women (Quartz)
Ritchie King notes that only one out of ten corporate board members are women, but their presence correlates with higher share prices, stronger returns, and less risk of bankruptcy. Maybe decision making is easier when you're not pretending it's 1950.
Tim Price is Deputy Editor of Next New Deal. Follow him on Twitter @txprice.