The dirty secret of capitalism -- and a new way forward

The well-heeled plutocrats of the top one percent recoiled in horror when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. But the truth is Trump is a symptom of a larger problem that threatens to consume America, in the form of one trillion dollars a year that used to go to wages but now goes to shareholders and executives.

This piece is a deep dive into the mechanics of the new economics discussed in the talk. Capitalism isn't about money — it's about problem-solving. And jobs aren't created by the top one percent — they're created through the consumer demand of the 99 percent.

When we allow employers to pay low wages, we create a race to the bottom that harms everyone. When local governments allow parasitic employers to pay so little that their employees qualify for subsidies like food stamps and the earned income tax credit, the whole economy is in peril.

For too many workers in the gig economy, stability has never been a possibility. This piece proposes a new contract between worker and employer — one which casts aside the antiquated concept of the 40-hour workweek and instead provides benefits, vacation time and retirement on a per-minute basis.

In 2012, Bain and Company warned that wealthy investors were struggling to cope with "capital superabundance" — put simply, the wealthy have too much money. Meanwhile, the American Dream feels like an impossibility to most Americans. The solution is simple: tax the rich and invest that money in the American middle class.

The wealthiest Americans have offered billions of dollars in philanthropic giving toward educational improvements, but income inequality continues to grow. This is a mammoth misreading of the problem. American workers aren't under-educated — they're underpaid.

It used to be that 65 percent of American workers earned time-and-a-half pay for every minute worked over 40 hours per week. Over the last 40 years, that number has dwindled to seven percent. Now, too many workers are putting in anywhere from 45 to 60 hours a week, and seeing no additional pay for their efforts. Overtime pay is like the 15-dollar minimum wage for the American middle class, and we're long overdue for a reaffirmation of this vital policy.