Category Archives: The destruction of the middle class

13 Questions That Expose Charter School Falsehoods

The sales pitch made by charter school boosters does not hold up to scrutiny.

It’s Time to Regulate the Gig Economy

Depicting the gig economy as ‘sharing favours’ creates a parallel dimension, where chores are form of leisure, with no relation to ‘work’.

Reading the Fine Print in Cuomo’s “Tuition-Free College” Plan

Cuomo’s plan Is means-tested, doesn’t cover fees, covers full-time students only, and has a residency requirement, clawbacks, and “crapshoot” clause

Globalization and the End of the Labor Aristocracy, Part 2

How the the new international economic architecture for trade, investment, & property rights hurt workers in advanced and developing economies

“I’m Back in the USSR / You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are”

Parallels at ground level between the USSR and the US of A.

Why You Can’t Have a Shorter Workweek

A recap of the numerous, internally inconsistent arguments as to why workers can’t have a shorter workweek.

More Evidence That Charter Schools Are a Taxpayer Ripoff That Delivers Poor Results

A damning new report from California shows that charter schools are a grift that profits investors at the expense of taxpayers and children.

It’s Not the Gig Economy, Stupid

Why the decline in labor unions has had a bigger impact on the fallen state of wage workers than the much ballyhooed gig economy.

IMF Blames Fall of Middle Class on Globalization and Technology

An IMF report comes up with some orthodoxy-reinfocing conclusions by failing to address some key issues.

Goodbye Fiduciary Rule? Department of Labor Delays Implementation Until June

Implementation is now delayed until June, yet the steps many firms have taken to comply suggest the fiduciary rule will survive in some form.

Wolf Richter: Great Debt Unwind: Consumer Bankruptcies Jump, First Since 2010; Commercial Bankruptcies Spike

Both consumer and commercial bankruptcies spiked in March– and the oil bust’s not to blame.

Globalization and the End of the Labor Aristocracy, Part 1

How labor benefitted from imperialism, and how its advantages were eroded as multinationals became important as international enforcers.

The Global Corporate Saving Glut

The corporate savings glut has been long in the making. It’s a sign of capitalists abandoning their role of investing to pursue growth.

Big Companies Shake Fingers at Employees for Raiding 401(k)s

401(k) “leakage” is yet another sign of the wobbly state of many Americans’ finances.