Working Life

   Would you buy anything from this man, even an opinion?: “I know Americans are concerned about the adjustments that are taking place in our financial markets,” Mr. Bush said at a ceremony to welcome the president of Ghana. He added: “In the short run, adjustments in the financial markets can be painful — both […]

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   Yours truly is hitting the road early and so will be out of reach for the morning of all the websites and news…good thing…because when the market opens at 9, all hell is going to break loose. I’m not sure how many people on Main Street understand the deep panic underway among the financial […]

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  Well, I’m only half serious. But, there is something interesting to watch when it comes to China and its labor movement. And a lesson to learn when a government says "you have to have unions".   China is wracked with labor strife literally every day, though we almost never read about it: work stoppages, […]

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Pardon me for interrupting the great national debate–on lipstick, ads, earmarks, polls and other "crucial" issues–by inserting a modest suggestion: since we, the taxpayers, are now on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (a lot more than the grand total of all earmarks in the […]

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   In the big picture, all these things are connected. But, they all have their own distinct story lines.    Let’s start with greed, which comes in two flavors. There is the greed by the owners of the kosher meatpacking plant that would make my Jewish, non-religious grandparents cringe: The Iowa attorney general on Tuesday […]

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  It never ceases to amaze me, even though we shouldn’t be shocked: the "free market" leaders fail–but, no worries, they still walk off with a pile of money, while average people get shafted. And the song remains the same at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.   Though this has been referred to in passing […]

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   Egads…sound familiar…American taxpayers are now on the hook for billions of dollars…this time to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and try to keep the economy from entering into a deeper tailspin. You can read about this virtually everywhere and there is a palpable fear here–that it may not be enough…    But, […]

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   One of the great lies that Wal-Mart perpetrates on our national debate is that it is a paragon of the so-called "free market". In truth, Wal-Mart’s model of low wages and cheap prices could not survive without broad government support, not the least of which is health care.   You see, most Wal-Mart workers […]

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   It’s enlightening to read the economic data popping out from the various number crunchers. Guess what? Productivity climbed beyond anyone’s expectations, according to this story on The Wall Street Journal’s website this morning: Nonfarm business productivity jumped 4.3%, at an annual rate, in the second quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s almost double […]

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   Throughout this election season, I’ve pointed out numerous times that the tide has shifted on trade, moving against so-called "free trade" and towards a trade policy that starts with the notion that trade is supposed to advance communities first, and corporations second. Believe me, I’m not saying the battle is over–far from it. But, […]

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