United for a Fair Economy

UNITED FOR A FAIR ECONOMY (UFE) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that is registered as nonpartisan and independent. The UFE aims to “raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. We support and help build social movements for greater equality.” This is achieved through popular education, research, and dissemination of information. There are three main policy areas addressed.

The Tax Education Program aims to strengthen local and state level capacity in the struggle to maintain a progressive tax system. The Racial Wealth Divide Education Program is an outreach and educational program designed to promote knowledge about the differences in wealth among different ethnic groups in the United States. The Global Economy Program addresses the emergent issues arising from globalization and the global economy and seeks ways to help individuals and organizations have their voices heard.

The UFE has an explicit and specific belief that both the United States and the world more generally would be a better and fairer place if wealth were spread more equally and there were less financial inequality among people.

Proponents of free-market economics and certain religious beliefs contest this view, but research increasingly demonstrates the link between inequality and social ills. People who live in societies that have a higher level of equality tend to be happier and live longer than those in other societies, even other societies with higher average levels of income.

Further, extreme levels of inequality nearly always lead to social unrest sooner or later. The UFE explains: “Our vision is of a global society where prosperity is better shared, where there is genuine equality of opportunity, where the power of concentrated money and corporations neither dominates the economy nor dictates the content of mass culture. We envision communities and nations that do not have dramatic disparities of income, wages, wealth, health, safety, respect, and opportunities for recreation and personal growth.”

This belief is contested by many people who hold the position that those individuals and corporations who have power and influence do so because of their own abilities in an essentially fair marketplace. There is little common ground between the two positions.

The UFE hopes to achieve its goals through these measures: “To stop the march toward growing inequality, we must build a powerful fair economy movement that can contest the dominant economic policies and propose policies that ensure shared prosperity. There must be a stronger countervailing force to the power of concentrated corporate influence and wealth. Key elements of this movement include a revitalized labor movement and a stronger voice from religious communities and coalitions of civic organizations. We are at the early stage of such movement formation, laying the groundwork for future opportunities to promote broader political understanding and mass action.”

Current campaigns involve educating about and advocating for policies to oppose the racial wealth divide, unfair tax cuts, corporate lack of accountability, reducing the level of social security, and implementing an estate tax.