Clik here to view.
The Social Safety Net Under Attack
One of the subthemes of current discussions about how best to reduce our national debt is that we must reign in out-of-control spending on federal safety net programs. The reality is quite different....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who Is For Change?
Many expected that the severity of the Great Recession, recognition that the prior expansion was largely based on unsustainable bubbles, and an anemic post-crisis recovery, would lead to serious...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cutting Through The Budget Nonsense
The media continues to direct out attention to deficits and debt as our main problems. Yet, it does little to really highlight the causes of these deficits and debts. The following two figures from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
US Tax Rates
Considering the enormous time spent debating tax policy, it is easy to imagine that the U.S. must have one of the high tax rates in the world. Well, that is not the case. The Atlantic has a great blog...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Austerity Produces . . . Austerity
The British economy is a disaster. Oddly enough most analysts find it difficult to explain why. Actually the reason is quite simple. The British government responded to its own Great Recession by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Corporations And The General Welfare
There is general agreement that the economy is not growing fast enough to boost employment. The question: What to do about it? The response, at all levels of government, seems to be: increase...
View ArticleThe Deficit Battle Continues
The so-called sequester appears likely to result in $85 billion in spending cuts this fiscal year. The cuts are ostensibly the result of a political battle over the budget deficit, with Republicans...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Austerity Agenda and Public Employment
While some austerity advocates really fear (although incorrectly) the consequences of deficit spending, the strongest proponents are actually only concerned with slashing government programs or the use...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beyond Growth
While newspapers give a lot of ink to arguments about whether reducing the budget deficit will boost or reduce growth, they seem to have little interest in the related issue of whether economic growth...
View ArticleClik here to view.
One Reason It Is Tough To Pass Progressive Legislation
Dylan Matthews, blogging in the Washington Post, discusses a very interesting paper that provides evidence showing that politicians seriously underestimate the progressivity of their constituents....
View ArticleDrone Warfare
So, what government believes that it has the right to kill anyone, regardless of where they are, if the head of state believes that the person is a threat to the country’s national security? No, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Profits And The Economy
The economist Ed Dolan sums up the current state of the U.S. economy in a recent blog post with the following headline: “Latest US GDP data show economy weak at year’s end but corporate profits near...
View ArticlePolitics In Command
If you were one of those people who were not persuaded that the U.S. debt level was reaching growth-threatening levels, pat yourself on the back. One of the major studies supporting the austerity...
View ArticleThe Need To Work For Peace On The Korean Peninsula
This long post examines the causes of and offers a response to the dangerous escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula. While the details of U.S.-North Korean relations are complex, the story is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Austerity Is Not The Answer
The U.S. economy continues to stagnate and our political leaders continue to embrace austerity. One major reason for this policy stance is that stagnation has done nothing to dent the earnings of our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Free Trade Agreements And Corporate Power
Corporate power has steadily grown over the last three decades. And corporations have aggressively used their growing power to boost profits and the well-being of those at the top of the income...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Capitalist Dynamics And Labor
The recent International Labor Organization (ILO) Global Wage Report examines trends in the distribution of income between labor and capital. It finds that: An outpouring of literature has provided...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Continuing Unsatisfactory Economic Expansion
Media and policy-makers seem anxious to convince us that the economy is in strong recovery mode. Therefore no further significant policy interventions are needed. Their optimism appears to rest...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Student Debt Explosion
We celebrate education as the answer to almost all our economic problems. At the same time we largely ignore the enormous debt students are forced to acquire gaining a college degree and the great...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Wealth of Nations
Wealth data is not easy to get. Still for three years now, Credit Suisse Research Institute has published an annual Global Wealth Databook which attempts to estimate global wealth holdings. The most...
View Article
