Editorial standards

Income inequality is politically charged. This site earns trust one way: by being visibly careful.

We take no policy positions

You will not find a recommended tax rate, redistribution scheme, or program here. Where research bears on policy, we describe what the research found and where it is disputed, and stop.

Contested means contested

Each library entry carries an is_contested flag and, where one exists, a link to a Perspectives page that gives each side its strongest evidence and ends with an explicit “where the field stands” that does not pick a winner. We would rather say “unresolved” than be confidently wrong.

Every claim is traceable

Explainers cite library entries inline; each page ends with a “sources for this page” box. Statistics on data pages show a “data as of” stamp taken from the dataset’s own metadata, a methodology note, and a download link. We do not write a statistic we cannot source; when an article would need one we do not have, we leave it out and note the gap.

Plain language first

Every explainer and library entry leads with a summary a non-economist can follow. Technical detail is always available — behind a toggle or link — but never the only version.

Accessibility is a requirement

We target WCAG 2.1 AA. Every chart ships with a text or table alternative for screen readers, and all controls work by keyboard.

When we get something wrong

See Corrections. Errors are fixed in place and logged publicly.