Working Life

   I will continue to post and argue, until proven otherwise, that there is no recovery–that it is a myth. I am an optimist by nature but I also believe in dealing with actual reality (I know, that is so 1960s). Here is why I love Paul Krugman: But there’s an even bigger problem: while […]

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There is no recovery for Main Street, no matter how many people are on their knees looking for "green shoots". It is phony rhetoric–and even the left-wing Financial Times grasps the problem.   The paper’s front-page article today is headlined "Goldman and Citi highlight divide", with the article’s subhead reading, "Wall Street recovering faster than […]

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   There have been a number of instances in the past few months that show that the financial industry has not learned its lesson and needs to be saved from its own short-sited behavior. Banks have pushed back against new rules on credit cards and mortgages. There is a coordinated effort to scuttle or badly […]

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A bit of a lateish post here today (I know, everyone is just crushed). I wandered down to Wall Street to see the new president of the AFL-CIO give one of his first–perhaps his first–public speech since taking over the federation last week. Here is Trumka on the left–to his left is Liz Schuler, the […]

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   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 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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Today brings in stark relief the economic chasm in America: the Depression is here, if you measure what real people are going through, but, on Wall Street, the party continues as, in Marie Antoinette style, financial executives reap millions while the rest of the people grasp for crumbs.   Today, David Leonhardt has an excellent […]

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   I like reading The Wall Street Journal because it often offers a bit of a chuckle. Like today: Wall Street reacted cautiously to talks by the Obama administration to overhaul pay practices at financial companies, worried about the specter of micromanagement but reluctant to fight back while the effort is at an early stage. […]

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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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