Working Life

   This is good: Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York has begun investigating contributions to tax-exempt groups that are heavily involved in political campaigns, focusing on a case involving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been one of the largest outside groups seeking to influence recent elections but is not required to […]

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   It would be an interesting exercise to add up all the dollars spent by the Justice Department prosecuting Roger Clemens and John Edwards–it’s got to be in eight figures easily–compared to the ZERO spent prosecuting Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, or for that matter, a whole host of his co-horts.    I mention Blankfein, […]

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Two sides of the planet. Two different systems. Two different realities for workers—and, therein, lies the lesson: economies are about power, and values. Over in the U.S., if you are a waiter in the food industry, you are screwed, as Mark Bittman outlined in his column a few days ago, on the backs of a […]

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     So, it’s not all bad news in the world. Some sanity prevails when real-life economics, not blather about the glories of the "free market", triumphs and one can hope for a bit of truthiness to spread.    First, the good news: President François Hollande’s Socialists and their allies won an absolute majority in runoff […]

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   This is one reason people do not understand how the economy really works–because transcribers of press releases (formerly known as "journalists") don’t do their jobs. A basic point of journalism is tell the reader, fairly soon, WHY something happened…well, if you read this story, you don’t get there until it’s way too late: Investors […]

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   So, I’m not shocked that this happened but there’s a big question: will the Justice Department prosecute this guy: The National Labor Relations Board announced on Sunday that one of its five members, Terence F. Flynn, had resigned after the board’s inspector general found that Mr. Flynn, a Republican, leaked documents to G.O.P. allies. […]

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    Gee, I’m shocked. Wal-Mart breaking the law, covering up bribes? What a new trend. Except it isn’t.    Look, obviously, it’s good that this is out:

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   I love it when billionaires feel misunderstood. It sounds something like this: “I’ve fleeced you or just piled up gobs of money at your expense but, gee, that really wasn’t personal, I’m really a good guy with all the right motives, if you could just see it my way because, well, my way is […]

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    In my search to find something positive among the rubbish cascading across our eyes, let us behold a small ray of positive action. Citibank’s CEO Vikram S. Pandit tried to stuff his pockets full of millions of dollars more in bank money. The shareholders were not buying it–and turned thumbs down on his proposed […]

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   If I was a "one percenter", I’d love the debate under way in the U.S. right now. What’s not to love? You whine and cry about the "Buffett Rule", how unfair it is and hurts the "job creators", and, then, laugh all the way to the bank as you barely can see where the […]

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