Archive for January, 2009
Capitalism's 60 Year Itch
Then again, many of these forecasters were probably saying, six months ago, that this would be a mild recession. From The Financial Times: Economic pain to be ‘worst for 60 years’ By Krishna Guha and Alan Beattie in Washington and Chris Giles in DavosFinancial TimesPublished: January 28 2009 19:23 | Last updated: January 28 2009 ...Read more.
Jeff Sachs: There Is No Alternative…?
To a massive public stake in the economy? It sure seems like that’s what the eminent free-marketeer of yore is saying. From The Guardian (the first paragraph excerpted): There is plenty of room for blunders, to be sure. Government activism can founder on the shoals of massive budget deficits, tax-cutting populism pushed by the right, ...Read more.
Bonuses–Not Wages–Sticky Downwards?
From The Times: The TimesJanuary 29, 2009Wall Street bankers keep two-thirds of bonusesChristine Seib in New York Bankers in America’s financial heart saw their bonuses fall by only a third last year, despite the financial devastation wreaked on Wall Street, it emerged yesterday. Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State Comptroller, said that Wall Street’s bonus ...Read more.
Capital Theory (Sans Capital?)
This piece from the Financial Times reveals the intricate contortions economic journalists are facing in a world of overwhelming state presence in the basic functioning of the system, and as government indebtedness replaces private debt that was enabled by government neglect in the first place. Some gems: This is the biggest conundrum for regulators and ...Read more.
Today's FOMC Statement
Voilà—today’s statement from the Federal Open Market Committee. The Fed will use “all available tools.” Yawn… But there was one dissenter, Jeffrey M. Lacker, “who preferred to expand the monetary base at this time by purchasing U.S. Treasury securities rather than through targeted credit programs.” The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its ...Read more.
Wage Theft in America
We just posted two excerpts from Kim Bobo’s excellent new book Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid—And What We Can Do About It. The shorter excerpt (previously published online by In These Times) gives background information about the concept of wage theft. The longer excerpt (advertised on our ...Read more.
Union Membership Rises Again in 2008 (BLS)
Just in from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hat-tip to Doug Henwood at lbo-talk. As Doug pointed out, two years in a row of increases (after years and years of decline) is pretty impressive, especially under a Republican administration. UNION MEMBERS IN 2008 In 2008, union members accounted for 12.4 percent of employed wageand salary ...Read more.
ILO: World Economy May Lose 51 Million Jobs
From Reuters; hat-tip to LP: By Laura MacInnis |Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:06am EST GENEVA (Reuters) – Up to 51 million jobs worldwide could disappear by the end of this year as a result of the economic slowdown that has turned into a global employment crisis, a United Nations agency said on Wednesday. The International ...Read more.
Geithner and the Nanny Tax
Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Treasury Secretary yesterday, despite his tax problems. The tax problem that got the most press was his failure to pay “self-employment taxes” when he worked at the International Monetary Fund. (“Self-employment taxes” is just payroll taxes for 1099 income; at least one member of the D&S staff–ahem–has made the same ...Read more.
Auto Parts Suppliers In Trouble
Compared to service sector businesses, manufacturing creates more jobs both directly and indirectly. It also works the other way. When car makers go out of business, the repercussions are felt far and wide. The first of what will surely be many more such stories to come. From the Washington Post: Struggling Auto Parts Suppliers Prepare ...Read more.
