Chuck Collins

Director, Program on Inequality, Institute for Policy Studies Co-editor, Inequality.org Author, Born on Third Base

Chuck Collins is the Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. He is the author of the popular book, "Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good(Chelsea Green)." His most recent book, "Is Inequality in America Irreversible?" is published by the Oxford, UK-based Polity Press. His forthcoming book, "The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Spend Millions to Hide Trillions", is about the wealth defense industry and will be published in late 2020 by Polity Press.

He is an expert on U.S. inequality and the racial wealth divide and author of several books, including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It. He is co-author with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth, (Beacon Press, 2003), a case for taxing inherited fortunes. He is co-author with Mary Wright of The Moral Measure of the Economy, a book about Christian ethics and economic life.

He is co-author of several reports including “The Road To Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class,” “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us” and “Gilded Giving: Top Heavy Philanthropy in an Age of Extreme Inequality.” He is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, high-income households, and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation. This network merged in 2015 with the Patriotic Millionaires. In 1995, he co-founded United for a Fair Economy (UFE) to raise the profile of the inequality issue and support popular education and organizing efforts to address inequality. He was Executive Director of UFE from 1995-2001 and Program Director until 2005.

Collins has a B.A. in history and economics from Hampshire College and a Masters in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.