Working Life

  When you are a pro at a scam–the definition of "scam" also can be found under the term "insurance industry"–you know how to try to pull a fast one. And AIG is trying to pull one–under covers of the holidays. Check this out.   You may remember that AIG–which is afloat only thanks to […]

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   I’m going to assume that most of you are still in one state or another of digesting the massive amounts of food you inhaled yesterday. Speaking of digesting, it looks The Treasury can’t swallow the $700 billion bankers’ bailout, or so The Wall Street Journal says this morning: The current Treasury has so far […]

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   Here was something to celebrate: Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Friday, February 13.

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  Having crashed the financial system around the globe and consigned millions of people to severe hardship over the next several years, a few bankers are trying to save some face: they are giving back millions of dollars in pay.   I would note first that, personally, I think the whole coterie of Rubinites (those […]

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   Later today, the International Labor Organization will release a sweeping report on global wages. I’ve got a copy and here is the upshot: wages declined in most countries, inequality increase and, thank you very much, a lot of that can be blamed on the wonders of so-called "free trade".   The ILO is an […]

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  Hear me out: this is an argument as much about the place of workers’ issues in the future Administration, as it is an argument for making John Edwards the next Labor Secretary.   When it comes to tackling the economic crisis, the president-elect has been pre-occupied, personnel-wise, with the question of who will be […]

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   It still seems astonishing to me that, despite the evidence that they simply can’t be trusted, the people who got us into the mess we are in–the rabid "free marketeers"–still seem to have jobs–and are being asked to continue to serve in our government and are sought after for advice. While certainly I am […]

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  This is a story that seems all too familiar, but it’s worth repeating each time it happens: trillions of dollars in retirement and savings are gone, millions of jobs will be lost, we’re facing a severe economic crisis that could go on for a number of years, and we could be in for a […]

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Memo to the traditional media: you want to see the auto industry go down? Fine. But, at least try to give the facts about what workers have undergone in the industry–an assignment that most of the traditional media could not live up in its coverage of yesterday’s hearings on the proposed bailout.   The facts […]

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   We live in very weird times. Here’s an example. So, commodity and energy prices are falling like crazy, as The Wall Street Journal reports: Raw materials registered another record drop in prices, while energy prices posted the biggest decline in over 22 years. The report suggests the weakening economy and falling energy prices should […]

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