Working Life

   It seems like much of the political leadership in the country wants to ignore the deep outrage still being felt across the country in the wake of the nonsense, greed and incompetence on Wall Street. Except one judge: Giving voice to the anger and frustration of many ordinary Americans, Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued […]

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   I often ask the question: why aren’t more of the bankers and Wall Street financiers going to jail for the financial collapse they created with their manipulations and thirst for greed? Not only are they not serving time, but they still have their jobs–while millions of others lost their jobs because of the bursting […]

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   I get that people want to be optimistic. I am the eternal optimist–I still believe we can change the world to be a better place. But, I am repeatedly astounded at the willingness of people to magnify and overstate the "green shoots" people want to find in the economy. We’ve got a 16-17 percent […]

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   I’m going to be on CNBC today at 1 p.m. to discuss this article in today’s NYTimes: The rich, as a group, are no longer getting richer. Over the last two years, they have become poorer. And many may not return to their old levels of wealth and income anytime soon. For every investment […]

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   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 […]

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   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 […]

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   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: […]

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   I remain astonished–perhaps I shouldn’t be–about the extent to which the people who destroyed the financial system still have jobs. It is truly a comment on the emptiness of the rhetoric of the "free market" ideologues and the business world, who demand accountability, efficiency and profitability–except when it comes to their own actions. After […]

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   As I noted yesterday in connection with the bankruptcy of General Motors, I am in favor of spending money on trying to save peoples’ jobs–we are talking about the survival of communities and the lives of thousands of people. But, having now spent the morning reading various media reports about the GM bankruptcy, it’s […]

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  Yesterday, I was on CNBC’s Closing Bell to debate the absurd notion that public employees are the people to blame for state government budget problems. But, what was most interesting about the debate with CNBC’s anchor Maria Bartiromo is how she became speechless–and that ain’t no easy feat–when I challenged her about class warfare. […]

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