article_snippet: But economic changes, mainly the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, automation and wage stagnation, have played a big part in the story, too.
article_snippet: Liberals are eager to talk about Liberals favorite economic fixes for inequality: raising the minimum wage, bolstering unions and taxing the rich to pay for new social benefits for families of modest means.
article_snippet: In truth, though, liberals have a long tradition -- at least since Daniel Patrick Moynihan's warnings in the 1960s of the consequences of family breakdown in black communities -- of shying away from "cultural" explanations for poverty and inequality.
article_snippet: Inequality as we know it today arises from the intricate interplay of economic and cultural changes, and won't be reversed simply by redistributing income from affluent to downscale families.
article_snippet: It's probably not because our society is evolving away from a fundamental social institution that has endured for, oh, most of human history.
article_snippet: This includes a raft of familiar policy proposals for boosting the economic prospects of low-income workers and making taxes more family-friendly.