Here’s a series of investigations into how to talk about the economy so people will listen, believe and get why progressive policies make good sense.

First, there’s the economy itself and how people understand what it is and what we ought to do (if anything) to make it work. Find this research in vivid detail here:

What We’ll Buy About the Economy

What’s an economic exploration without probing into “the crisis”? A descriptor I’d use with caution, as you’ll see. This first report catalogs the dirty details of how we got here — so you’ll know who to blame:

Getting the Story Straight

The second offers ideas for how to convey what happened so the public understands why government oversight isn’t just crisis control, it’s part of making things run:

From What to How

And if you want a quick read without the details, a couple one pagers of messaging advice:

Ideas to Embrace

Ideas to Avoid

Finally, a root cause of the current decline, thanks to decades of not-so-benign neglect and bad policy: inequality. See here for a full work up on the stories we tell about what inequality is and why we have it — along with advice on which to highlight and which to ditch:

Narrowing the Gap, Leveling the Field

And a couple cheat sheets go straight to messaging recommendations:

Inequality as Imbalance

Inequality as Barrier