The Chicago Political Economy Group’s (CPEG) mission is to provide research, writing and speaking to advance the goal of economic and social justice. We are labor and community activists, academics, and others interested in political economic analysis and related progressive policies.

We believe that deep structural problems in both the U.S. and larger global economy have led to the current crises and enduring oppression linked to such factors as class, race, gender, ethnicity, and immigration status, which cannot be resolved by reforms relying on private sector activity. Further, the subordination of U.S. national interests to the profit concerns of the corporate and financial sector has led us to a policy which relies on military domination and repression of weaker nations.

We seek to study, understand, and promote ideas and policies that will revive the U.S. economy and make the U.S. and world economies more just, democratic, and sustainable. Fundamental to our vision is a large scale living wage federal jobs program which could be financed through a tax on financial speculation. We welcome opportunities to collaborate with others.

Group Members

Ron Baiman | rbaiman@cpegonline.org

Ron Baiman is Director of Budget and Policy Analysis at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, an Illinois based public policy think tank. He is also a long-time member of the Editorial Board of the Review of Radical Political Economics.

Bill Barclay | bbarclay@cpegonline.org

Bill Barclay worked for 22 years in financial services before retiring in 2004. Since then he has been active in the Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice and Democratic Socialists of America.

Sidney Hollander | shollander@cpegonline.org

Sidney Hollander is a former employee of the Chicago Department of Human Services who worked on legislative issues and lives in Chicago.

Haydar Kurban | hkurban@cpegonline.org

Haydar Kurban is an Associate Professor of Economics at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Joe Persky | jpersky@cpegonline.org

Joe Persky is President of the UIC United Faculty union and a Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Sharon Post | spost@cpegonline.org

Sharon Post is the Research Director at SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana.

Elce Redmond | eredmond@cpegonline.org

Elce Redmond is a community organizer and political trainer who has worked with non-governmental organizations and labor unions in the United States and around the world. He also serves on the National Board of Jobs with Justice.

Sam Rosenberg | srosenberg@cpegonline.org

Sam Rosenberg is a Professor of Economics and the Associate Provost and Director of the Honors Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the International Review of Applied Economics.

Mel Rothenberg | mrothenberg@cpegonline.org

Mel Rothenberg is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at University of Chicago, a longtime social activist, and a writer on a variety of issues, many related to the construction of socialism.

Dee Wernette | dwernette@cpegonline.org

Dee Wernette is retired from two positions: Sociologist/Demographer, Argonne National Laboratory, 1979-2001, and Professor of Sociology, Lewis University, 1981-2007.