Working Life

   Yours truly is the new owner of an IPhone but this is not a discussion of the pros and cons of the device (the jury is still out). But, the cool company has got some issues about the treatment of its workers: The Cupertino, Calif., company, in a report posted to its Web site, […]

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  It is not easy, under our current "free market" economic rules, to push corporations to do the right thing when the overriding imperative of every CEO is to maximize their own massive pay packages. But, every year, the federal government spends billions of dollars in our tax dollars–our hard-earned money–to buy services. Here is […]

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   In one day, you can read how the powerful economic interests have defeated the public interest. Start with the  theatrics of the health care "summit"–an event that only underscores how the insurance industry has defeated the people. Already anticipating failure, the president wants to roll back health reform even further: President Barack Obama will […]

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   I do not like to be negative. I’m actually quite the optimist, generally speaking. So, I admit to feeling uneasy that I’ve been presistently, regularly disbelieving about the talk of "economic recovery". I think that such talk ignores the actual FACTS and is largely driven by political imperatives–meaning, politicians who want to be re-elected […]

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   Some people are not suffering (via The Wall Street Journal): As financial firms rebounded last year, Wall Street bonuses for employees in the New York City securities industry rose almost 17% to $20.3 billion in 2009, according to a report released Tuesday by the New York State comptroller.  

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   For many months, I have argued that the greatest crisis we face is the lack of good-paying jobs–not the deficit. Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom took hold in Washington and stymied the president from taking the action that was needed during the debate over the stimulus bill, which came in at $787 billion–and too small […]

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   There is a rhetorical firefight going on in Britain that is worth reading. It’s carrying on in the letters section of the Financial Times. It started with a call this past Sunday from 20 conservative economists that the British government immediately begin cutting back the fiscal budget–an echo to what we are hearing in […]

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   If states won’t crack down on businesses breaking the law as a moral imperative, I suppose at least something can work: Federal and state officials, many facing record budget deficits, are starting to aggressively pursue companies that try to pass off regular employees as independent contractors   And another good reason to have former […]

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    I understand why many people do not expect much from most of the traditional media–particularly The New York Times. People don’t get the sense that the traditional media can get out of its own insular thinking to do hard, independent reporting about the facts.    The newest drumbeat being pushed by the traditional media […]

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Wall Street loves a disaster. The more chaos, the better–because, no matter what happens to regular people, chaos can mean lots of profits. That is why the deep reform we need in the way the financial world works is so important–and why Wall Street is fighting so hard to stop it.   This past Friday, […]

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