Working Life

    Chris Dodd has put his regulatory reform bill on the table. Bottom line: it is, at best, average–and certainly does not do what needs to be done to remake the rules of the economy.     The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is giving the Federal Reserve Board more power, particularly placing consumer protection in […]

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I have been dismayed at the willingness to let the Wall Street executives off the hook–allowing them to walk free, continue to collect bonuses and salaries and even give them jobs in government after they conducted what was perhaps the biggest fraud in financial history. We cannot let them escape justice. And, based on the […]

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   Conventional wisdom–along with a great dose of greed and blind faith in a failed economic model–caused the immediate economic crisis we are still deeply mired in. Every day, brings another does of conventional wisdom. Here is one from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. household wealth fell by $14 trillion during the recession, sapping confidence […]

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   In February 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King sent this to 11 jailed protestors: I HAVE JUST LEARNED OF YOUR COURAGEOUS WILLINGNESS TO GO TO JAIL INSTEAD OF PAYING FINES FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS PROTEST AGAINST SEGREGATED EATING FACILITIES. THROUGH THIS DECISION YOU HAVE AGAIN PROVEN THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE MAJESTIC AND SUBLIME THAN THE […]

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   This was inevitable and quite worrisome: Companies are quietly and gradually moving their pension funds out of stocks. They want to reduce their investment risk and are buying more long-term bonds. But states and other bodies of government are seeking higher returns for their pension funds, to make up for ground lost in the […]

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   Here is a contrast: the Congress passed a $15 billion jobs bill that could charitably be called pathetic–it *might* create a couple of hundred thousands new jobs, when we need almost 11 million jobs just to get back to pre-crisis levels. On the other hand, any health care reform bill that seems like it […]

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The greatest threat to our future is the way in which we let certain trends and norms become an almost accepted way the economy works. For example, the poverty-level minimum wage is rarely challenged and it is a fundamental part of the strategy of business in America–and a core reason for the greatest divide between […]

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   The issue of trade has sort of receded into the background. Yesterday, though, Sen. Sherrod Brown made clear that he is not thrilled with the Administration’s stance: For too long, our country has followed a Golden Rule trade policy: we treat others as we’d like them to treat us.  That’s a great rule for […]

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Yesterday, I raised my concerns about the Senate’s proposal to hand more power to the Federal Reserve Board and give the Fed the role of protecting consumers. Honestly, I thought it was a cruel joke and a perfect example of the Washington insiders protecting the interests of Wall Street. Barney Frank agrees.   Here is […]

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   It is hard to overstate how out-of-touch the insiders in Washington are–and how much they are far more attuned to the demands of Wall Street and the financial powers-that-be. You can’t find a better example than the apparent bi-partisan deal to give the Federal Reserve Board more power–and, most astonishingly, the power to protect […]

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