Working Life

   It should not surprise anyone that people are scared about the future of their retirement. Yesterday, the Financial Times had this: Anxiety about having enough income in retirement is growing, according to a new Financial Times/Harris Poll, with more than half of adults in the US, France, Italy and Spain saying they are more […]

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One day, as a society, we will look back at the absurdity of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals as something as abhorrent as racial discrimination. But, that day is not here yet–and it’s likely the California State Supreme Court today will make the road just a bit harder. Which is why everyone […]

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   Just a reminder that unemployment isn’t just a burden here (from The Wall Street Journal): Russian unemployment has reached its highest level this decade as thrift replaces a culture of consumer spending, official data released Friday showed. The number of unemployed in Russia rose to 7.7 million in April, or 10.2% of the total […]

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   Yesterday, I was back at CNBC debating the topic of unions and the auto industry. I don’t mind debating people who disagree with me based on solids facts. But, the discussion was entirely ludicrous. The premise of the debate: the UAW is employing a "double standard" because the auto industry is collapsing but, oh […]

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   It is one of the great hypocritical aspects of the public debate in America–on the one hand, the politicians and talking heads who strut around bragging about how great our country is and, on the other hand, the complete thirst and glee so many of them seem to have for the weakening of unions. […]

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   One of the things I find most tiring–and there are, granted, many candidates for that list–is the refrain that "well, things may be bad in the U.S. but look how much worse it is in Europe?" I get that nonsense all the time, particularly when I have to debate the free-marketeers and the defenders […]

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   While there seem to be some people who think that there is some benefit to having a so-called "free trade" agreement with Panama (the Senate Finance committee had tentatively scheduled a hearing on the deal for this Thursday), I’m wondering if the main people who want this to go through are the people who […]

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   This shouldn’t be the case but a new report just out this morning from the Center for Economic and Policy Research says this: This report finds that the U.S. is the only country among 22 countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human development that does not guarantee that workers receive paid sick […]

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  Yesterday, I was on CNBC’s Closing Bell to debate the absurd notion that public employees are the people to blame for state government budget problems. But, what was most interesting about the debate with CNBC’s anchor Maria Bartiromo is how she became speechless–and that ain’t no easy feat–when I challenged her about class warfare. […]

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   I like reading The Wall Street Journal because it often offers a bit of a chuckle. Like today: Wall Street reacted cautiously to talks by the Obama administration to overhaul pay practices at financial companies, worried about the specter of micromanagement but reluctant to fight back while the effort is at an early stage. […]

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