Archive for February, 2008
Recession linked to workers' rights
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, writes on the AFL-CIO website about the relationship between the current economic recession and the suppression of workers’ right to organize over the past three decades. As unions have been attacked, wages have stagnated, and economic growth has become increasingly driven by bubbles — ...Read more.
Corporate Security
Bad government has been good business during the Bush administration. In 1999, nine companies had federal homeland security contracts. Today the total is over 33,000. “Much of what we’ve seen touted by vendors after 9/11,” says security consultant Doug Laird, “is nothing more than a sales force trying to use 9/11 as the hype to ...Read more.
Some Roses Don't Smell So Sweet
Before you order those overpriced roses for your Valentine’s Day sweetie, consider a few disturbing facts from our friends at US/LEAP: Flower workers are primarily women who work long hours, especially before holidays like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, are paid poverty-level wages, and face hazardous working conditions Over 60% of flowers bought in the ...Read more.
Long-term unemployment bad enough to warrant action
The latest Economic Snapshot from the Economic Policy Institute. The White House has demanded that legislators not extend unemployment benefits as part of the upcoming economic stimulus package, despite the fact that the latest jobs report from the Department of Labor shows that long-term unemployment is already a problem. For a clear understanding of the ...Read more.
Policy Paradoxes in the Financial Meltdown
This posting is from James Miehls, a grad student in economics at UMass-Amherst and a member of the D&S collective. The financial meltdown has left us with a paradox of possible policy applications. It seems that any action, be it fiscal or monetary has the potential to both “fix” the current problems in the financial ...Read more.
