15 Steps the Democratic Party Must Take to Reverse Wage Stagnation Across America

The party's platform committee gets an earful.

By Steven Rosenfeld

The causes and remedies for the economic stagnation facing most American households are no mystery and should be clearly stated in the Democratic Party’s 2016 platform. That was the message from Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute's Policy Center, as he testified this month at hearings in Washington and said the nation’s key economic challenge was generating “robust wage growth for the vast majority.”

Mishel’s comments, which listed trends and solutions Democrats should call out and embrace, run counter to the oft-cited resignation that economic trends are larger than government can address. The 2016 campaign has brought inequality center stage, he said, underscoring that federal and state government have big roles to play in rebalancing the economy.