Working Life

Well, of course, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development wouldn’t quite say it that way. But, that is the upshot of what a relatively mainstream operation tells us: the financial crisis is still being felt worldwide, with millions of people out of work who would have been working but for the greed of the bankers and stupidity of politicians, including those in the U.S.

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A louder rumble is brewing in the fight to end poverty–also known as the fight to hike the minimum wage. Filling some jails is on the agenda…

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Politics is full of really asinine ideas–let’s see, the Iraq War counts as a good example. But, for perhaps the dumbest one going I’d offer up the mumbling, coming from even some Democrats, to eliminate the corporate tax. It is stupefyingly idiotic–in the midst of the greatest divide between rich and poor in 50 years, and corporate profits rising to record levels even as wage growth remain at its lowest level in half a century.

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Before I rip Burger King a new one, a moment of full disclosure: I haven’t walked into one of those joints in I dunno 25 years. So, maybe it’s worth the whatever it costs now to choke down and swallow that stuff. But, know this: every dollar you put into that place now is basically a contribution to yet another tax dodge–theft from the public’s right to have a decent society.

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Truthfully, this is not particularly a new idea. For a long time, I, and others, have been pointing out that the data about the economy and jobs does not reflect how bad it really is–and this was true way before the financial crisis. But, drumroll, a little academic cover joins the chorus.

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A problem that I’ve been writing about for several years is the grim reality that the top bankers and Wall Street guys, who were responsible for the financial crisis, have never been out in jail–and jailing these guys is the only way that there is a chance that the same thing won’t happen again. Which brings us to the story of Angelo Mozilo.

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It isn’t complicated and it’s not rocket science. The thievery underway in the form of corporate tax inversions can be stopped if there was a will to do so. It’s a problem with three easy-to-describe pieces–and some pretty straightforward solutions. The issue is: does the White House, beyond an election-year messaging stunt, really want to stop the robbery of the American taxpayer?

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Well, this is just more of the same. Shareholders and customers pay the tab for greed and incompetence–and the Administration goes along. A new deal–but no one held responsible.

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It might look these events are completely unrelated but there is a tie between the extortion underway of Argentina courtesy of a hedge fund, on the one hand, versus the cluelessness at the Federal Reserve Board about what is actually happening to real people.

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I couldn’t help the “EXPOSED” start to the headline because, actually, this is no surprise. Citizens for Tax Justice has been making this case for a very long time (including here, just as one example). But, here’s another piece of evidence to try to undo that hard-wired, decades-long rhetorical nonsense about corporate taxes being too high in the U.S.

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