Working Life

  I understand why the Administration had been working overtime to try to prop up major banks–but understanding does not mean agreement with the long-term strategy. In fact, the question worth asking today is not whether the stress tests are accurate or whether more taxpayer money will be needed to shore up the major banks. […]

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   In the bigger sense, these two things are related. First, a week ago, I asked whether the president will keep his campaign promise about renegotating NAFTA. The answer seems to be "no": The administration has no present plans to reopen negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement to add labor and environmental protections, […]

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   Maybe I’m eating too much Matzoh which is clogging the part of my brain that triggers the "trust" center but I’m not feeling great about this aspect of the government’s effort to conduct "stress tests" on the banks: But the tests, which are expected to be completed by the end of this month, are […]

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This is not a post about the auto industry. The attack against the decent standard of living fought for and won by auto workers over many generations is just one of the most visible assaults on the American Dream–an assault that is sweeping through every corner of the economy as workers have to pay for […]

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   Two things caught my eye this morning. Item #1: If you want to know how the power has shifted in the world of banking, The Financial Times has a fascinating full-page story entitled "The fearsome become the fallen". It compares the rankings of the leading banks in 1999 to the rankings right now, as […]

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  I am watching the parade of outraged leaders–especially Democrats–who are railing about the AIG bonuses and, to be honest, I’m far more disgusted by the outrage then the chump change being argued over. Because the outrage masks this fact: virtually our entire political and economic leadership has turned a blind eye, and actually endorsed, […]

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Oh, don’t get me wrong–Madoff will, and should, die in prison. But, there is a downside to all this obsession with Bernie Madoff–his crimes are miniscule compared to the legalized robbery that went on in Wall Street and devastated the lives of millions of people. And we can’t let the media circus around Madoff let […]

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Oh, don’t get me wrong–Madoff will, and should, die in prison. But, there is a downside to all this obsession with Bernie Madoff–his crimes are miniscule compared to the legalized robbery that went on in Wall Street and devastated the lives of millions of people. And we can’t let the media circus around Madoff let […]

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  Yes, that is the underlying message delivered today by one of the world’s leading financial publications. For many of us, this is no surprise: you had to be truly ignorant to pretend like the economic system was a success just based on the growing divide between rich and poor over the past decade, and […]

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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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