When I tell people about the new Marketplace Wealth and Poverty Desk, they tell me stories. How sometimes their mom had to go on welfare between jobs. Or how the other kids laughed at their off-brand sneakers. Or the year their parents split up and they had to move out of the split-level with a pool.

It turns out we are hungry to talk about wealth and poverty, money and class, where we came from and where our country is going economically.

We want to hear your stories, ideas, and questions to help us create great journalism about the growing concentration of wealth in the United States. We’ll report on the forces and policies that led to the wealth gap. We’ll look at what the consequences are, good or bad, for our families and communities. We’ll be asking you what economic choices our country should make.

Please come back often to contribute to this  conversation.  You can start by commenting on the stories the Wealth and Poverty Desk is broadcasting today on both Marketplace and the Morning Report, and here on our website. Come back tomorrow for our first call-out for your photos and stories.