Working Life

I have written over the years about the way in which a lot of government statistics tell us very little about how real people are doing in the economy. To wit: some talking heads and political leaders keep talking talking about a “recovery”. But, that means very little to most people — except, surprise, if you are rich.

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Job growth is allegedly “steady” but unemployment increases — so said the statistics. But, here’s the thing — these stats still miss an important point.

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   Politicians bickering over private equity’s impact on jobs and how to bring down the high unemployment rate are entirely missing the point about the crisis facing working Americans. The predicament we face isn’t simply that there are too few jobs; it’s also that an increasing number of workers don’t have the kind of job [...]

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   I took a longer break from blogging than I thought–to think, observe a bit, rest the brain, cycle New Zealand’s spectacular South Island. But, what stirred me to break this hiatus, at the very moment that people are switching off their computers to turn to libations and debauchery, was, well, the modest observation that [...]

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   I’ve written a lot about the complete immoral insanity of the obsession over the phony debt and deficit "crisis"and the rush to impose austerity on the people when we really need much more public spending to employ the masses of people who are falling, falling, falling further behind. Well, truth is austerity is not [...]

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    1.4 BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD MAKE $1.25 A DAY.    That is a fact. That is a moral scandal.    Yesterday, I was at the United Nations for the unveiling of an important, if a bit boringly titled, "Social Protection Floor for a Fair and Inclusive Globalization". You should read this report but [...]

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   It’s a full-time job–actually, five full-time jobs–to keep track of how the economic elites screw working people. Just when everyone is excited–rightly so–about the demonstrations breaking out all over the country, in the back door slides more horror: Congress prepared Wednesday to pass free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, showing unusual bipartisan [...]

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    Dear Ms. Warren: congratulations for jumping into the U.S. Senate race in your state. And good luck and be well–you will find that being a "candidate" offers challenges quite different from having to answer to discourteous, uninformed Republicans. Respectfully, I’d like to ask your position on a number of issues.    Quick context. There [...]

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   I hate to ruin a good party–or at least the world of the liberal bloviators who want everyone to stand in line and praise the president’s speech last night. Heck, I am glad he was there to push for something–ANYTHING–to be done to try to respond to the great crisis we have.    But, [...]

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    Not a day goes by when we don’t hear from the mouth of some talking head or read the words of a transcriber of press releases (formerly known as a "journalist") about the awful "partisanship" or bi-partisan "paralysis" and failure to "compromise". It’s now a macro embedded in the minds and computers of virtually [...]

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   It is a sign of how truly leaderless we are, from Congress to the White House, that people are slobbering over a billionaire’s declaration that the rich should pay more in taxes. Well, duh.    But, let me be one voice who cautions, at the sight of so many puppies rolling over in joy [...]

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    The anger against the president that has been rocketing around many circles of liberal/progressive politics is misplaced.     The crisis we face isn’t about what the president is doing, or failing to do.     We are under siege, fighting the greatest class warfare in perhaps 100 years. And we can expect very [...]

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    Why some people are surprised that the economy continues to be weak speaks more to the bankruptcy of our elected leaders and the cluelessness of the press release transcribers (we used to call them "journalists"). People don’t have money–and that is a real issue when two-thirds of the economy depends on people buying stuff. [...]

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    I’ve never had the boy gene for cars–the apparent salivation (or other bodily reaction) that goes with having the perfect car. But, I know enough, mostly from watching way too many sports events, to understand that BMW has spent a ton of money marketing itself as the car to have. But, fear not–BMW is [...]

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   Happy Days are here again, folks–uh, for the corporate bottom line. The people: not so much. Profits are up big time: While the U.S. economy staggers through one of its slowest recoveries since the Great Depression, American companies are poised to report strong earnings for the second quarter—exposing a dichotomy between corporate performance and [...]

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    The answer to this question would appear to be obvious. But, it needs constant reinforcing–as you will see from the debate (if you can call it that) last night between yours truly and Larry Kudlow and a stooge from the right wing. It’s almost laughable and entertaining–if the consequences weren’t so dire. The subject [...]

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