Working Life

    My head hurts from the absolute stupidity running rampant when it comes to debating economic facts. As in, why would Social Security even be mentioned, other than for political calculations, in the debate around the phony debt and deficit "crisis"? Part of me throws up my hands and thinks this can never be stopped–especially […]

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   It is true that no one knows for sure whether the president will sign off on cuts to Social Security. The problem is that the track record is not good–and this is a president who is a terrible negotiator. So, the Progressive Caucus isn’t waiting and has sent a letter which says in part: […]

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    I’ve never had the boy gene for cars–the apparent salivation (or other bodily reaction) that goes with having the perfect car. But, I know enough, mostly from watching way too many sports events, to understand that BMW has spent a ton of money marketing itself as the car to have. But, fear not–BMW is […]

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   Happy Days are here again, folks–uh, for the corporate bottom line. The people: not so much. Profits are up big time: While the U.S. economy staggers through one of its slowest recoveries since the Great Depression, American companies are poised to report strong earnings for the second quarter—exposing a dichotomy between corporate performance and […]

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    Silly you. Bet you were confused, thinking that that extra money was hidden in your paycheck, a gift from those companies sitting on a trillion dollars in cash. C’mon, this is the United States of America where the only people who deserve more money are those that have plenty already: The CEOs of […]

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    Cut pensions. Cut pay. Layoff people for the almighty deficit-reduction obsession. And who cares if: Growth in the food stamp program continued in the U.S. — with 27 states providing benefits to at least 1 in 7 people. The number of food stamp recipients increased 0.1% in April, the most recent month available, compared […]

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    It’s a head-scratcher–to some. Wealth has been created globally but, somehow, a suffocating blanket of austerity is embracing the world. But it would be no surprise to the people in the streets in Greece or to the millions of people here who cannot find work to read the headline in the left-wing, socialist rag…Financial […]

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   Math is a pretty simple thing–except if you are an elected member of Congress engaging in misdirection, blaming the wrong people and a healthy dose of cognitive dissonance (which requires that you reconcile conflicting realities by blaming, justifying or denying the truth). Which brings us to: why do we have deficits? Well, at least […]

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    So, I remember from history books the great lessons learned from the Greeks, starting with democracy, no? Time to follow them again: Greeks walked off the job for 48 hours on Tuesday, a day before Parliament is to vote on unpopular austerity measures that are deemed critical to unlocking international financial support.    After […]

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    There is a pretty damning article in today’s Financial Times, probably the planet’s leading English language business daily. The upshot: unless we spark a major revolution, the majority of the world people are truly screwed. Here is the lead paragraph: Nearly three years after the start of the economic crisis, a new spectre is […]

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