Working Life

   I believe that we can fix the economy–but it will take a focused and entirely different approach. For a long time, I’ve maintained that the government statistics on economic growth often don’t match the reality regular people face. Today, we learn: Spending by Americans took a big tumble in September, as they lost a […]

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   So, we went from hoping that we would have the only health care plan that makes sense morally and economically–"Medicare For All", or single-payer–to hoping for a strong public option to…well, something not "robust" (however you define that). And the horse-trading is not over–it seems likely that the public option now being discussed (the […]

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   If you read this blog regularly, you know that I have been a skeptic about the talk about the "green shoots" in the economy–the signs that somehow the economy is getting "better". I based most of my skeptical argument about the "green shoots" on a simple fact: until working people see that they have […]

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   So, now, there is a public option in the Senate health care bill that is apparently taking shape–of course, states can opt out of the provision which makes it, in my view, weak if we are trying to establish a national standard. I suppose that the opting-out could also mean states could enact a […]

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   A moment to pause to consider this, from Inside U.S. Trade: Business Flags Problem With Strong Support For Michaud Bill U.S. business representatives late last week expressed alarm to outgoing Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs Daniel Sepulveda about the large number of Democrats that are cosponsoring trade legislation calling for a radical […]

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I want to try to make a subtle distinction here: between something that I’m glad is happening, on the one hand, and changes that fundamentally reshape economic power in the country, on the other hand. The first does not necessarily bring about the second. And it’s important, I would argue, for us to keep our […]

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   I’ve been watching this for sometime and it’s truly absurd–the Congress can’t get an extension of unemployment benefits passed because Republicans are standing in the door blocking it. The House a bill to extend unemployment benefits a month ago, but it is still stuck in the Senate. There was a story posted on CNN […]

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   I have made this point before–I know that it sounds counter-intuitive to say that a strong dollar is NOT a good thing but it isn’t–except maybe for Wal-Mart and American tourists. I certainly have sympathy for tourists, less so for Wal-Mart. I’m reminded of this because of this article in today’s Wall Street Journal: […]

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   If the criteria used for deciding whether the recession-depression is over is focused on bonuses for banks and Wall Street executives, then, hallelujah, the good times are rolling. But, if the criteria is people getting jobs, um, well, that isn’t happening (courtesy of The Wall Street Journal): Companies across the economy are holding off […]

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   I will continue to post and argue, until proven otherwise, that there is no recovery–that it is a myth. I am an optimist by nature but I also believe in dealing with actual reality (I know, that is so 1960s). Here is why I love Paul Krugman: But there’s an even bigger problem: while […]

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