Working Life

While they were taking from others, raiding the coffers of corporate treasuries, people suffered throughout the nation. And, even now, they are circling like vultures to pick at the carcasses of their victims.   First, we learn from The Wall Street Journal about "Wall Street’s $10 Million Men": As bad as 2008 was for Merrill […]

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   Here is a classic example about how poorly the debate is often framed in our political discourse. The president has appointed Nancy-Ann DeParle to be the director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Some people are getting worked up into a lather about her need to sever her ties to the health […]

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   Henry Ford used to say that he wanted his workers to have enough money to buy his cars. Our current business leaders seem to have forgotten that simple economic idea. That is why, for their own self-interest, business, and their Republican allies in Congress, should embrace broad unionization.   The sound you just heard […]

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  The last week has been filled with a whole raft of economic scandals that it’s hard to pick through the wreckage. But, I’ll try.   First, a publishing note: last week, I posted the first Friday Scandal Update. I will maybe keep this up–and please suggest your own scandals–both here in the comments and, […]

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   Change has to begin with the transformation of the economy: a rejection of the marketing phrase of the "free market". The president has made some very strong proposals in this area. A large group of Members of Congress is now pushing him to declare a new era in trade.   I just received the […]

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    This really got me infuriated. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported (as did other news outlets): Delphi Corp., the largest parts supplier to General Motors Corp., won court approval to terminate health benefits for thousands of retired salaried employees after arguing the move is critical to keeping its slow-going bankruptcy reorganization afloat. Ending the […]

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You break the law. You hide your money. You abandon any pretense to having any loyalty to your community. And, now, you sue to keep all the quiet. That’s what a group of rich Americans are doing.   I caught this in The New York Times and have yet to see it elsewhere but this […]

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  If you look back at virtually every large fraud uncovered in the past two decades (and probably more) you can find a direct link between the theft and political corruption–meaning, campaign contributions. The same is true with the massive investment fraud perpetuated by Allen Stanford.   In today’s Wall Street Journal there is this […]

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   This is news that is both somewhat expected and also worrisome, from The Wall Street Journal this morning: Outside advisers to the U.S. Treasury have started lining up the largest bankruptcy loan ever, talking with banks and other lenders about at least $40 billion in financing for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, in […]

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  I have to say this would all make for a great movie–thriller, farce, comedy?–if the plot lines didn’t actually mean that millions of people have been screwed by crooks, greedy elites and incompetent CEOs. Today, there is just a plethora of news on the "free market" scam front, all courtesy of The Wall Street […]

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