Working Life

  It was probably pretty obvious but there is a damning report out yesterday that paints a stark picture: the collapse of the housing bubble has created a savings and retirement crisis for millions of Americans who face a bleak future.   The report (which you can get here) comes from the folks at the […]

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    Sometimes getting a deal made isn’t the last word. Yesterday, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced that its members had approved the deal it had struck with producers. The margin was fairly healthy–62 percent–but not as large as previous contract votes. But, to get to the contract deal, AFTRA had to […]

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   Panic continues to be the word for the day in the financial markets. The big news is the cratering of the shares yesterday of the two big mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times lead with the stories. Here’s the Journal: Investors dumped shares […]

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   I have this on my mind for two reasons today. First, a little factoid I read courtesy of the Sierra Club. As you all may know, compact flourescent lightbulbs are more efficient. But: Despite the fact that the compact fluorescent bulb generates the same amount of light withone quarter of the electricity,the WTO considers […]

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   My first reaction looking at the grim news all around–say, that American is going to cut 7,000 jobs by the end of the year–was to write about the litany of awful crap coming down on workers around the country. But, it being the day before Independence Day (and, as a result, yours truly gets […]

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   No surprise, really, that this poll would show that most Americans oppose so-called "free trade": (CNN) — As Sen. John McCain prepares to promote free trade during a high-profile trip to Colombia and Mexico, a poll out Tuesday suggests the issue may be a political hurdle as the general election campaign heats up.   […]

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   I do like those ironic coincidences that happen in the media. Generally speaking, when it comes to economic issues, I don’t think the editors have a clue that they have captured unintentionally the gist of our crisis. And, so, let me turn to today’s New York Times. The front page has two stories headlined: […]

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   A couple of weeks ago, I noted that corporations were now beginning to think that China, with its rising prices and increasing wages (relatively speaking), wasn’t cheap enough. And, so, comes another report via Reuters: The result is higher prices at U.S. stores like Wal-Mart and Target that have increasingly filled their shelves with […]

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Intuitively, a lot of people understand that war and a fragile economy are related. But, nothing brought home the connection better than the death of Andrew Seabrooks. His life, and death, speak more about what we face than any politician’s rhetoric.   You see, Andrew died because he had no option but to go to […]

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   Readers of this blog know that I strongly believe that we need to start throwing corporate executives in jail when workers are injured or die on the job. Fines just don’t cut it–it’s a cost of doing business…and a tax-deductible cost to boot. Let them lose touch with their BMWs, personal assistants, Blackberries, good […]

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