Working Life

Well, of course, you didn’t–and this is no Nigerian prince scam. Rather, it’s the average income for the top 400 earners in the U.S. This isn’t the top 1 percent. This is the ubber top percenters, the .001 percent.

Read the full story

Block the borders!!! Those rich people are fleeing state high taxes. Yeah, right–it’s a myth.

Read the full story

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is first among equals when it comes to the other 11 regional Fed Banks. That person has a big say on interests rates because s/he sits permanently on the Fed’s Board of Governors. So, should the head of the NY Fed have to be confirmed by the Senate? Senator Jack Reed thinks so.

Read the full story

Well, duh…

It’s good to see this demand by both Elizabeth Warren and Joe Manchin. But, there’s an important point missing.

Read the full story

Because what has happened is robbery. Pure and simple. “Stagnation” is too passive. It makes it sound like a natural phenomena, like a sunset.

It makes it sound like there were never active players in the daily robbery of workers–either by outright breaking of the law or by using the so-called “free market” system to take from people the fruits of their labor.

I raise this because of two elite views expressed in the past couple of days that are pretty common repetitions of the myth of “gee, isn’t it terrible this thing just happened”.

Read the full story

Nobody, in my opinion, knows the Supreme Court better, and writes about its decisions and law in a more user-friendly way, than Linda Greenhouse, former NYTimes Supreme Court reporter who has a regular column on the Times website; I read every one of her columns, even if it’s not a topic I particularly work on or follow.

Today, she blisters the Court in a broadside that essentially says: by agreeing to take up a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, the conservative majority has shown that it is simply a group of “politicians in robes”.

Read the full story

One of the greatest dangers we face from the odious Trans-Pacific Partnership is the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The pro-TPP forces–who advocate for the non-existent so-called “free trade”–want to ignore the reality of the ISDS and, to do so, they actually have to lie about it. Unfortunately for them, Public Citizen is a tiger that won’t let these lies pass.

Read the full story

A common myth: the auto industry is dying. The reality: no, it’s increasing employment but largely in NON-UNION assembly plants in the South owned by foreign companies like Mercedes and Nissan, and at independent parts suppliers. Let’s see if this breaks open some new opportunities.

Read the full story

I often hear the refrain that billionaires and corporations just use legal tax gimmicks to avoid paying a fare share in taxes, and that if you want to hold someone accountable, point your finger at the politician who votes for the tax loopholes that makes tax dodging legal and possible. I get the politician’s responsibility–but only up to a point. Because there is a morality issue at stake here…uh, oh yeah, morality and business don’t coincide, as John Malone proves.

Read the full story

For many months, I’ve been very skeptical about the regular jobs reports that are fairly upbeat in the way they describe the economy. I still feel that way, though the direction is certainly better than say right during the post-financial crisis months.

Read the full story