Working Life

   i’ve been asked to debate that question today on CNBC–I will post the video later. But, why do we even debate this anymore? It’s entirely about ideology, not economic facts. Union workers make almost 25 percent more than non-union workers–the difference was actually wider not too long ago but I suspect that deep concessions […]

Read the full story

   I can’t say I’m surprised, honestly. I believe I’ve pointed out before that we were screwed once there was an acceptance that the insurance industry was going to be at the table when the health and welfare of our families, neighbors and friends was at stake. It seemed to obvious to me–and, yet, one […]

Read the full story

   Krugman is right: What’s still missing, however, is a sense of passion and outrage — passion for the goal of ensuring that every American gets the health care he or she needs, outrage at the lies and fear-mongering that are being used to block that goal.  

Read the full story

   There are two examples today that make it crystal clear how our society is damaged by corporate power. The first comes in the increasingly depressing arena of health care reform: Behind the scenes, however, Mr. Obama and his advisers have been quite active, sometimes negotiating deals with a degree of cold-eyed political realism potentially […]

Read the full story

   I’ve made the point a lot that productivity has, over the past 30 years, soared while wages have remained flat in real terms over that period of time. That is important because when people are more productive at work that, in theory, should translate into wage increase.    Well, here is a productivity number […]

Read the full story

   I’ve been banging this drum for many weeks–we cannot take seriously the talk about "recovery" when the vast crisis of unemployment and under-employment is not being dealt with. Bob Herbert picks up this theme today: The official jobless rate is now more than twice as high — 9.4 percent — and even more wildly […]

Read the full story

   I’ve been a pessimist about the chatter about "recovery" and the foragers who seem to keep finding "green shoots" everywhere. I understand why the Administration has to trumpet any hopeful signs–it’s a political neccessity. But, I have pointed out repeatedly that I don’t see how we have a "recovery" given how deeply stressed out […]

Read the full story

   On a plane here soon this morning so just a quick post…you will recall that I am a skeptic about the "recovery" rhetoric, largely because people are just hammered so hard now, after years of no real wage increases, that the concept of when the "recovery" comes will be mostly relevant for government statisticians […]

Read the full story

   Today brings news of more greed wafting across the country, as well as a tiny step towards sweeping out the stalls soiled by corrupt politicians. The bad, though typical news, finds yet another payday for Wall Street banks and lawyers who will reap almost a billion dollars for cleaning up the mess of AIG: […]

Read the full story

A tried-and-true political tactic in this country to scuttle progressive progress is to explicitly or implicitly tar one’s opponent as "un-American". One can either do it in the darkest of ways–cue Sen. Joe McCarthy. Or, one can do it in a more subtle way by accusing one’s opponents of perhaps one of the worst transgressions–listening […]

Read the full story