Archive for March, 2009
Trust Your Guts (Greider)
Joe Nocera likes Geithner’s new plan. William Greider, not so much. Here is an excerpt from his recent article in The Nation. Hat-tip to LF. Some points I recommend people consider: 1. Euthanasia for insolvent banks. Transferring their losses to the public will not restore the trillions in capital the bankers helped destroy. It would ...Read more.
Obama vs. Cuomo on Bank Investigations
From Bloomberg: Obama Backs Banks, Seeks to Block Fair-Lending Probe By Greg Stohr March 26 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration’s call for greater financial regulation may have its limits. The administration late yesterday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to bar New York and other states from enforcing their fair-lending and other consumer-protection laws against federally ...Read more.
Single-Payer Updates
First, we noticed this excellent webpage, with links and resources on single-payer, from Physicians for a National Health Care Program. Second, our friend Dr. Christine Adams, who is statewide secretary of Health Care for All Texas, sent us her response to an article in Wednesday’s WSJ by Laura Meckler. It’s an excellent summary of reasons ...Read more.
New Home Sales Fell In February, Not Rose
From Barry Ritholtz in the RGE Monitor: WSJ: Sales of new homes rose in February for the first time in seven months, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, another sign that the housing market is thawing Bloomberg: Purchases of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in February from a record low as plummeting prices and ...Read more.
Closures and Layoffs (Mar. 22-28)
This week’s Closures & Layoffs report from Mark Heschmeyer. I think we forgot to post this for a couple of weeks. But you know where to find them: CoStar.com. Closures & Layoffs (Mar. 22-28): Mass Layoffs Increasing By Mark Heschmeyer | March 25, 2009 Read the rest of the report.
Official Unemployment Numbers Grim
The latest official unemployment numbers from the Labor Department show continuing deterioration in the job market, setting a record for the ninth straight week. Seasonally adjusted first time claims for unemployment insurance rose by 8,000 to 652,000, compared to 367,000 a year ago. The total number of people claiming benefits for more than a week ...Read more.
Wage Theft (NYT, ABC News!)
Kim Bobo, director of Interfaith Worker Justice and author of Wage Theft in America (which we excerpted here and here), appeared on Good Morning America yesterday: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-USqUNj5s4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0] Plus, Tuesday’s New York Times had a great article by Steven Greenhouse on nonenforcement of labor regulations by the Labor Department. The GAO report that is the focus ...Read more.
Why Georgists Correctly Predicted the Crisis
For more on the Georgists, Henry George, and the idea of a land tax, see this excellent sidebar D&S co-editor Amy Gluckman wrote to Mason Gaffney’s excellent article about how a land tax helped rebuild San Francisco in 1906, and could be used to rebuild New Orleans after Katrina. Why Georgists Correctly Predicted the Crisis, ...Read more.
Common Security Clubs
An exciting new project spearheaded by Chuck Collins, D&S Associate, and of the Institute for Policy Studies. ‘Common Security Club’ as an Organizing Form for the Solidarity Economy By Chuck Collins The common security club model was born out of work done in the last few years by people struggling with overwhelming indebtedness. Participants spend ...Read more.
Pensions In Peril
Those with their retirements in 401(k) plans have taken a huge hit. Those with defined pension plans aren’t free of the carnage. From the Boston Globe: Under a law that took effect last year, underfunded pension plans may be forced to limit lump-sum payments and suspend cost-of-living increases for retirees. In addition, some plans could ...Read more.
