Working Life

   A few months ago, I spent 5-6 hours interviewing Paul Krugman for Playboy magazine. It’s now on-line here. He speaks candidly–surprise–about the economic misdeeds of Wall Street, the foolishness of the current austerity obsession and focus on the non-existent debt crisis, and a whole range of topics including his view that the Obama Administration [...]

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I almost broke my pledge of sanity not to blog on the weekends when I read Roger Lowenstein’s monumentally stupid article on trade in the Sunday Times Magazine. The piece was so moronic as to…well, let’s go to the text.   Lowenstein starts out by setting the terms of debate thus: According to Political Science [...]

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   Over the never-ending primary season (I recently picked up a not-so-old old New Yorker issue that had a New Hampshire primary and realized that wasn’t so long ago and it seems like ancient history), I’ve pointed numerous times that on the question of so-called "free trade" I wasn’t entirely sure that there would be a [...]

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    I’m a little surprised that this story has become more than it should be. Apparently, yesterday’s story in The Wall Street Journal that related Barack Obama’s pledge that he would work to end the government control over the Teamsters has caused a bit of a hoo-hah. It elicited this story today in The New [...]

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  I’ve said before that I believe that the Democratic nomination fight is over, though the hype may drag on for a bit. But, a nice chunk of super delegates–perhaps as many as a dozen or more–may make their choice based on where the candidates stand on trade. And that’s a good sign for people [...]

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When I read yesterday’s account of the debate over what to do about rising gasoline prices, I really was astounded by the pandering–though I sometimes wonder why one would be astounded in this era where getting elected is far more important than taking a principled position. On this issue, the scorecard is clear: Sens. Clinton [...]

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  Right now, the so-called "free trade" deal with Colombia is floating dead in the water. But, once the sniping goes away over process, the horse-trading will begin. And the Democratic freshmen in the House may end up being key votes.   By now, we know that Speaker Pelosi is blocking a vote right now, [...]

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   Virtually every time a so-called "free trade" agreement comes before Congress, you can almost predict what happens: the elites rally to figure out a way to push through these deals, pouring in huge resources to buy votes and pushing a propaganda campaign that is far-reaching. And it is no different with the push to [...]

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  I keep thinking that there will be a limit on how far thinking people will go to turn a blind eye to the death and misery brought to us courtesy of so-called "free trade". But, lo and behold, every day brings new wonders at the capacity of our government, and its servants in the [...]

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    This morning, Sen. Obama is scheduled to give a major address on the economy. Yours truly is scheduled to appear on CNBC’s "Power Lunch" (hey, I didn’t come up with the name) at 1:20 p.m. (Eastern Time). I may not have a chance to post the entire speech here before the CNBC gig but [...]

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    Yesterday, I observed the bizarre proposal by Sen. Clinton to hand over fixing the economic mess we’re in to the very people who helped create the mess (well, actually, for most workers we’ve been in an economic mess for a very long time–but you’all know that). I wasn’t trying to pick on Sen. Clinton [...]

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I have been waiting to hear what the presidential candidates have to say about how to address the financial crisis gripping the country, and the international markets. Very little of substance has been said, beyond vague pronouncements—until yesterday. Sen. Hillary Clinton released a plan, which, in my humble opinion, underscores why another Clinton Administration would [...]

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    Earlier this week, I suggested that, rather than debate the often vague criteria that should drive a super-delegate’s decision on who to support in the Democratic nomination, the uncommitted super-delegates should actually seek a clarification on where candidates stood on issues. I chose trade because I consider that to be the single-most important economic [...]

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    Earlier this week, I suggested that, rather than debate the often vague criteria that should drive a super-delegate’s decision on who to support in the Democratic nomination, the uncommitted super-delegates should actually seek a clarification on where candidates stood on issues. I chose trade because I consider that to be the single-most important economic [...]

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    I am on a conference call with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) Leo Gerard, president of the United Steel Workers and Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizens Global Trade Watch to talk about the role trade is playing in the presidential race.  The one piece of news, to the extent it [...]

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    I am on a conference call with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) Leo Gerard, president of the United Steel Workers and Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizens Global Trade Watch to talk about the role trade is playing in the presidential race.  The one piece of news, to the extent it [...]

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