This is the news today: U.S. consumer spending was flat in June as incomes stopped growing and prices remained subdued, pointing to a weaker economy. But, that should not be a surprise. Which makes this very curious: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said rising wages would probably spur household spending in […]
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Jonathan Tasini's Ruminations on Work, The Economy, and PoliticsAuthor Archives | Jonathan Tasini
Wall Street: Goldman Sachs and Business As Usual
Posted on 20 July 2010.
As the dust has settled a bit from last week’s slap-on-the-wrist to Goldman Sachs, it’s worth making this point again: nothing much has changed. After the first few hours of the news that Goldman would pay $550 million to make the SEC go away, it became pretty clear that the government had nicked Goldman […]
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Goldman Sachs Gets Away With Slap On Wrist
Posted on 16 July 2010.
If I was Lloyd Blankfein and you told me that I could pockets hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, play a key role in a scam that cost millions of people their jobs, sent the economy into one of the worst economic tailspins in a half century, escape any personal jail time for […]
Posted in General Interest2 Comments
Tobacco Slaves
Posted on 15 July 2010.
As if smoking wasn’t bad enough for the health of its users: Human Rights Watch, the group best known for documenting governmental abuse and war crimes, plans to release a report on Wednesday showing that child and forced labor is widespread on farms that supply a cigarette factory owned by Philip Morris International in […]
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Obama’s Arizona Action
Posted on 07 July 2010.
Okay, something to like on a 102-degree day: The Obama administration on Tuesday sued Arizona over the state’s strict new immigration law, attempting to wrestle back control over the issue but infuriating Republicans who said the border required more security. The administration argued the Arizona law, which requires state and local police to investigate […]
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Shaky Ground
Posted on 01 July 2010.
If it wasn’t so tragic, I’d be laughing until my belly hurt at the hand-wringing about the shaky nature of the economy. I’ve been saying this for many months, particularly every time I’ve seen the foolish predictions of the recovery around the corner. So, now, the stock market has a deep drop and people […]
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The Fed Prevails
Posted on 18 June 2010.
Nothing changes: As the House and Senate move to finalize regulatory-overhaul legislation, the Federal Reserve has emerged as likely to retain most of the power and independence Fed officials have feared they might lose.
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Wobbly Legs
Posted on 14 June 2010.
I have, for a very long time, been very skeptical about every pronouncement of the good news about the "recovery" that seems to be around the corner each time a snippet of data comes out that political leaders grab on to to try to reassure an angry and frustrated citizenry. You can’t say that […]
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Wal-Mart Knew
Posted on 05 June 2010.
I am hardly surprised by this: More than six years before the biggest sex discrimination lawsuit in history was filed against Wal-Mart Stores, the company hired a prominent law firm to examine its vulnerability to just such a suit. The law firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, found widespread gender disparities in pay […]
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Rock On Domestic Workers
Posted on 03 June 2010.
This is very good news: In a city of secret economies, few are as vital to the life of New York as the business of nannies, the legions of women who emancipate high-powered professionals and less glamorous working parents from the duties of daily child care so they might get to work. Those nannies, […]
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