John Whitehead, former co-chairman of Goldman, who with John Weinberg, presided over the firm when it went from being a commercial paper dealer and institutional equity broker to a top investment bank, decried Wall Street compensation levels in a Bloomberg interview: “I’m appalled at the salaries,” the retired co-chairman of the securities industry’s most profitable […]
Read more...….and is growing, read “The Poverty Business” in BusinessWeek. The key factiod: Federal Reserve data show that in relative terms, that debt is getting more expensive. In 1989 households earning $30,000 or less a year paid an average annual interest rate on auto loans that was 16.8% higher than what households earning more than $90,000 […]
Read more...This blog seldom talks directly about the problems of the poor, but a post by Mark Thoma, citing a Center for Housing Policy study, provided striking and disheartening information about the plight of the impoverished class. It’s not news, but the poor can’t win. They often must live far from their workplaces to find affordable […]
Read more...This post from Conglomerate (a blog I generally like) is an articulate rendition of an appallingly conventional line of thinking: This Sunday’s Washington Post featured a story on the increase in socially responsible investing over the last decade…. According to the Washington Post, over the past decade the number of socially responsible investment funds has […]
Read more...From Credit Slips: At the end of 2006, there was $12,588,200,000,000 outstanding in household debt — defined as consumer debt and mortgage debt combined. But there was only $11,065,500,000,000 in personal income for 2006. (Those are trillions of dollars.) If the United States spent none of its personal income for one year on “trivial” things […]
Read more...Normally I steer clear of politics, but this post by Australian Guy Rundle on Blair’s legacy makes some trenchant observations about what happens when you start dismantling a liberal social order: For the fact is that, under Tony Blair, Labour cut all ties not only with anything resembling democratic socialism, but also with social democracy, […]
Read more...I am beginning to suspect that many are reacting to the overstimulation of the modern world – the accelerating pace of change, data overload, time pressure, work and relationship instability – by turning off their brains. The rise of fundamentalism and the “family values” push, both efforts to turn back the clock, is one set […]
Read more...By way of background, Greg Mankiw was Chairman of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, is the author of a very popular economics textbook, teaches at Harvard, and is a advisor to Mitt Romney. Not surprisingly, that makes him a card carrying member of the economics orthodoxy. So when some Harvard students went on a hunger […]
Read more...I’m certain you’re familiar with the expression “death wish.” I am beginning to wonder whether America has a banana republic wish. The country has been taking steps towards being a small-minded, elite-dominated, sham democracy. Mind you, I am pointing to a tendency, not an established fact. The US isn’t Haiti, or even Argentina. But we […]
Read more...Paul Krugman’s Monday op-ed piece, “Another Economic Disconnect,” attracted the normal amount of attention in the blogsphere (which is to say quite a bit) with less enthusiasm than usual. And I must say I understand why. This piece was a little flat, and managed to miss some key issues. Disclosure: I am a fan of […]
Read more...Yesterday, we featured a post from Dani Rodrik which observed that free trade doesn’t necessarily lower prices (it will lower prices of imports and increase prices of exports, so it depends on the mix of goods purchased). What is interesting about the debate that unfolded is that it tells us something not just about free […]
Read more...In today’s op-ed piece, “Gilded Once More,” Paul Krugman picks a few factoids to show how our Gilded Age compares to the 19th century original. He finds that even though ours has a kinder face (due no doubt to the proliferation of TVs, fast food, and other creature comforts that make modern poverty look more […]
Read more...This is four years too late, but for those readers (particularly those outside the US) who wonder how Americans were conned into believing going into Iraq was warranted and desirable, watch this video (or read the transcript). The Bush Administration disinformation wouldn’t have worked if the press had exhibited any backbone. This documentary goes through […]
Read more...We made a couple of posts (here and here) on the subject of Wal-Mart’s threat research unit. Bruce Gabbard, a former member of the group (former by virtue of having been fired), spoke to the Journal about its activities, which reportedly included having Gabbard monitor board meetings (which as we discussed, at a minimum would […]
Read more...Oddly, there hasn’t been as much chatter in the blogsphere as I would have expected on the House passage on Friday of what is called the “say on pay” bill. The House legislation would give shareholders a non-binding vote on executive pay and golden parachutes. Initially, the Senate wasn’t expected to take it up, but […]
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