In the Public Interest

By Ralph Nader Day after day exposés pour forth about corporate and governmental wrongdoing and abuses of power from official reports, the media, lawsuits and citizen groups. Far more often than not, little or nothing happens. The organized culprits continue with their harmful and greedy ways. The golden age of muckraking in films, books, and…

By Ralph Nader Here we go again. A sudden surge in the price of gasoline and heating oil is followed by reported expressions of frustrated despair by hard-pressed consumers in the midst of silence from the oil companies and abdication of responsibility by the elected and appointed officials of federal and state governments. The price…

By Ralph Nader Bill McKibben, a prolific writer and organizer on global warming and climate change, has had a busy year teaching environmentalists not to despair and will soon be learning some lessons himself. In August 2011, he organized an unprecedented demonstration in front of the White House urging President Obama to deny a permit…

By Ralph Nader How could Barack Obama say, in his State of the Union speech, “let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour”? Back in 2008, Obama campaigned to have a $9.50 per…

By Ralph Nader On January 30, 2013, an unusual front-page story appeared prominently in The Washington Post about a small D.C. charity called Martha’s Table that serves meals to 1,100 people a day, has early-childhood and after-school programs, and provides other community-enriching programs. Among its distinctions is a giant volunteer corps of, according to the…

By Ralph Nader A friend asked me what I was thinking while listening to President Obama’s inaugural address. Here were my reactions: Obama: “They [the Patriots of 1776] gave to us a republic, a government of and by and for the people.” The flood of money-shaping elections and politics has given us a corporate government…

Mike Duke, CEO Walmart Corporation Bentonville, Arkansas Dear Mr. Duke, Walmart, your gigantic company, is increasingly being challenged by your workers, government prosecutors, civil lawsuits, communities (that do not want a Walmart), taxpayers learning about your drain on government services and corporate welfare, and small businesses and groups working with unions such as SEIU and…

Redundant, trivial, overcomplicated and dependency-inducing apps (computer applications) are flooding the internet. Some apps associated with deceptive and harmful claims are even drawing the attention of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Consumers beware! The prevalence of apps in consumer markets both reaches new levels of absurdity and invites…

By Ralph Nader Before the electoral year of 2012 slinks into history, it is worth a comparative glance back to the electoral year of 1912 to give us some jolting perspective on how degraded our contemporary elections, voter performance and election expectations have become. One hundred years ago, workers were marching, picketing and forming unions.…

By Ralph Nader It’s easier than you think.  That’s the way I start discussions and interviews about my new book titled, “Seventeen Solutions.” The “solutions” were selected for their long-overdue practicality, fairness, efficiency, safety, employment potential and respect for future generations.  A majority of the people, sometimes a large majority, support such redirections. The effects…